It Takes a Little Time, Sometimes
by sparra-music
Summary: Sequel to Fixing Things. ABANDONED.
1. It's Time

This is a direct sequel to my story "Fixing Things". If you haven't read that one, this won't make any sense at all.

**Summary:**

It takes a little time to finish fixing things. And even when they're 'fixed', they're not the same. And you might say the Sanctuary will never run the same way again. Adult language and content, not for under-18s.

**Disclaimers:**

I do not own Sanctuary or its characters. Not even on DVD, although that would be nice...

PS. If you are under 18 years of age, please exit this story, which contains adult language and situations.

_**Reviews Appreciated!**_

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_**It's Time**_

_It's time._ Watson was sick of pity-parties_. Even if he does yell at her, it might still be good for her. And he was already thinking he'd like to go talk to her last week. I should have let him, William's a smart boy, and he cares for her, so he won't get too rough._

"Magnus, do you know where William is?" Watson spoke without preamble as he stuck his head into Helen's office. Helen looked up at him, a bit surprised that he had neither knocked nor hesitated to interrupt her conversation.

"Most likely in his office, working with one of his patients, or making a house-call."

Watson frowned at the news. "I already checked his office." His lightning brain was already at work to solve the problem of locating Will. "Henry would be able to give me his cell number or track him down, correct?"

At Helen's nod, he added, "Thank you, Helen. And I apologize for the interruption."

Helen was left to wonder, _What in the world was that about? And what does he need Will for that's so urgent that he can't just leave him a note? I wonder if I should follow him and get to the bottom of this?_ A throat being cleared brought her back to the matter at hand.

Meanwhile, Watson had changed tacks and begun to look for Henry in addition to Will. After checking the main lab, Henry's lair (as he always privately thought of the computer room), the SHU, both of their living quarters, the kitchen, the rotunda, the infirmary, the gym, the shooting range, the obstacle course, and numerous hallways, Watson was beginning to get quite angry with the two of them. _That is so irresponsible for them to both take off and not leave word with anyone! They should know better than to do something like that, especially with the amount of danger our jobs entail! Oooh, when I find them, they are both getting a severe talking-to!_

Just then, he saw Bigfoot exiting a room further on down the corridor. Walking as quickly as possible towards the other man, he called his name to get his attention. Catching up to Helen's butler, he asked, "Have you seen William or Henry this afternoon? I've been looking for them for some time now and can't locate either of them."

"Did you check the upstairs lounge?"

"The upstairs lounge?" Watson asked. _What would they be doing there? That room is practically empty, except ... If they've been watching television, I'll ... I'll ..._

Bigfoot's nod momentarily cut off Watson's effort to think of an appropriate punishment for slackers, but it quickly resumed as he began to walk purposefully towards the upstairs lounge.

* * *

There will be more of this coming soon, I promise.

PS. Does ANYONE know the Big Guy/Bigfoot's given name? I just can't imagine Magnus or Watson calling him either of those things. Anybody who tells me gets a hundred thank-yous.


	2. Wolfenstein

_**Wolfenstein**_

_What on earth?_ Watson could hear the din from the upstairs lounge as soon as the lift doors opened. _It sounds like there's a battle going on in there! Could someone have broken into the Sanctuary and gotten this far into its inner workings without being found and stopped?_

Watson was completely unprepared for the sight that met his eyes as he sped through the open door to the lounge:

"I'm so gonna put the hurt on your scores, now, Will!" Henry was hunched over a video-game controller, eyes on the sixty-inch plasma TV screen as more threats poured out of his mouth. Will was lounging on the other end of the couch, feet up on the coffee table, absentmindedly rubbing his fingers and waiting for a break so he could tell Henry he wasn't worried in the least.

The TV screen was filled with animated castle walls, bizarre-looking abnormals with a third arm sticking straight out of their chests, and wild spurts of red as Henry played the game. And the gunshots, screams, howls, and other noises pouring from the surround-sound system would have completely drowned out Watson if he hadn't roared, "What's going on here?"

The effect was almost comical. Henry and Will both managed to jump in place; Henry banging his knees and throwing his arms upward in the process, which sent the controller flying. Will managed to get his feet on the floor as his back went ramrod-straight. Both turned to look over the couch at Watson as the entire screen went red and the noise level dropped noticeably. Henry was the first to recover.

"What's going on here? Well, we were engaged in a Wolfenstein tournament until someone snuck in and scared the crap out of us! Dude, Watson, did you have to yell like that?"

"And now I win. Pay up." Will looked like the cat with the canary.

"What? No way! Watson screwed it up, that does not count!"

"The deal was, we alternate levels, first one to die loses. You died," Will waved eloquently at the screen, "so you lose. I win. Not my fault if you can't handle a real-world distraction during your turn."

Henry was just about to let Will have a piece of his mind when Watson interrupted. "Excuse me, but what are either of you doing playing" he waved a hand towards the screen, "whatever this is, when you should be working?"

"Who says we should be working?" asked Henry.

"Is there an emergency?" asked Will at the same time.

"What? No, there's no emergency, but it's only" Watson consulted his watch, "3:37 in the afternoon. Why shouldn't you be working?"

"Flexible hours," replied Henry. His tone added, _Duh_. Henry was already re-connecting the controller and checking it for damage.

Watson's head had already swung to look at Will, who nodded and added, "Yep, me too. If I've got appointments with nocturnal patients downstairs from 6 to 3 in the morning like I did last night, I usually take it easy either the day before or after unless something comes up."

Watson absorbed this silently. _Well, they _are_ entitled to time off, just like everyone else. You'll just have to borrow William some other time._

"Did you need one of us for something?"

Will's voice cut off Watson's internal monologue. _Damn, that boy is perceptive._ "Well, yes, actually, I've been trying to locate you for some time, William. I was thinking maybe it's time for you to have a talk with Ashley. And I wanted to discuss some things with you prior to that."

Watson was surprised by the change his words wrought in the room's atmosphere. Henry froze, then shrank into the corner of the couch and out of Watson's sight. Will also froze, but recovered more quickly than Henry, although he licked his lips and swallowed as if his mouth was suddenly very dry.

"Okay," Will croaked. Turning to the still-out-of-sight Henry, he asked, "S'okay if we finish this later?"

"Yeah, okay." Henry sounded almost scared.

Watson was tempted to further examine this marvel-_ Since when has Henry been scared of anything other than his abnormality? And the only reason he's scared of that is that he's afraid of hurting someone if he can't control his body after the change. But back to the matter at hand- _"So, could we possibly go to your office?"

"Sure." Will followed him out of the room silently.


	3. Will's Talk

_**Will's Talk**_

Will looked at the door. Ashley's door. _I didn't expect to feel this nervous. Well, here goes. _He knocked twice.

"Come in." Ashley's voice sounded somewhat weak and definitely less assertive than Will was used to.

He shivered involuntarily. _Admit it, a part of you was starting to wonder if you'd ever hear that voice again. _

_Okay, fine, now get on with it, genius._ He walked across the dark room and turned on the bedside lamp as Watson had instructed him. That had been part of Watson's plan: to follow his routine and thereby bypass any chance of Ashley deciding not to let him in her room or deciding not to talk to him. Personally, Will wasn't too sure about that assumption. _She's more than capable of kicking me out or just plain ignoring me if she doesn't want to talk to me._

"Another day, another lecture, huh?"

_What? Watson didn't say anything about this! What's the use of 'warning' me about stuff before I come talk to her if you're going to leave out important information? Like, she's stopped listening to me, so I've decided you can have a try._

"Hi, Ashley."

The reaction to those two words was immediate. Ashley rolled over with a look of utter shock on her face and breathed, "Will."

_Why would he come to see me? And that look-- that's not hatred. That's not anger. That's-- what is that? That looks almost like affection! But that can't be right! That can't be. He's-- he's got every reason to hate my guts for the rest of his life. How can he be looking at me-- so understandingly? so calmly? so gently?_ Ashley started sobbing.

_Screw professional distance!_ Will got up from the chair, took a step, sat down on the edge of the bed and put his back against the headboard, and then pulled Ashley into his arms.

As she felt Will put his arms around her and pull her close, Ashley sobbed harder. _How? How can he treat me like this after what I did? Maybe he's building to the mother of all guilt trips. I'd deserve it, after all._

"Ash."

More sobbing, although the hand stroking her back lightly was somehow making her feel just a tiny bit better.

"Ashley."

She hiccupped and sobbed a bit more, albeit more quietly.

"Ashley."

"Yeah?" She managed to get in between her now-easing sobs.

"Ashley. Please stop crying and try to listen to me."

Ashley's heart nearly broke again at his soft, soothing tone. When she looked up into his eyes, the tears picked up again, although this time without the harsh sobbing. _Maybe-- just maybe-- he forgives me?_ Ashley was afraid to hope for something that wonderful, but her heart did so anyways.

"Ashley, you need to let go of your guilt. Let go of your shame." Will stopped talking as Ashley shook her head against his chest. He stroked her hair with one hand.

"Listen to me, Ashley. You have to let go of that, or we can never go forward. And I want to go forward. I want to get our friendship back. It's gonna take time, and it's gonna take some work, but we can get our friendship back." He paused. "You do want to be friends with me still, right?"

"Oh, Will." Ashley practically moaned his name from where she was plastered against his side. "Of course I still want to be friends. I just didn't think there was any chance of that anymore. I didn't think that there was any way that you could possibly forgive me for... for" she broke off, to choked up to continue.

"Of course I forgive you. There's nothing to forgive. But you're gonna have to work with me. Will you work with me to get our friendship back on track?"

The tears were starting again. "Oh, Will, of course, of course." Ashley whispered as she buried her head in Will's side. _Oh, God, I love the feel of his arm around me like this. I love him holding me. And here I am sobbing and crying all over the place again, and he's not even getting on my case about it._

_I was hoping she'd be ready to talk today. I thought that's why Watson gave me the green light. But maybe she needs a little more time. _"You do realize that you're gonna need to talk to me eventually, right?" Will asked, only half joking. He thought he felt a tiny nod in return. Reaching over to stroke her hair again, he added. "Doesn't have to be today, though.

"You know, after my mom ... got killed, I tried to tell the cops what happened. None of them believed me. _A monster killed your mom, kid?_ And they looked at me, and then at each other, like, _sign him up for the loony bin. The trauma's been too much for him._ And after that, I didn't want to talk to anybody. For a couple of weeks, I wouldn't talk to anybody-- unless you count screaming every night when I had nightmares. Finally, about the third or fourth shrink they had me go to-- Miss Lysacek-- God, she was so nice-- she told me I didn't have to talk about it if I didn't want to. But she asked me to listen, if I would, to this song she was gonna play for me. It went:

It takes a little time sometimes  
To get your feet back on the ground  
It takes a little time sometimes  
To get the Titanic turned back around  
It takes a little time sometimes  
But, baby, you're not going down  
It takes more than you've got right now  
Give it, give it time ...

There's more to it, but that song, and what she said about me not having to talk if I wasn't ready to, and how she told me she didn't care if I just wanted to sit and think, or read a book, or color, or whatever when I came to see her for a while-- that was what made me feel like maybe, just maybe, she could understand what I was going through. She didn't lie to me; she told me that nothing was going to change my mom being gone and nothing was ever going to make that feel right; she told me that the song was right and nothing was going to just feel 'fixed' right away; but she also told me that I'd need to work at it, to work at trying to get things back to something like normal. She wasn't worried about how long it took, or how much work it took, just as long as I was willing to work with her. Eventually, it made me feel safe talking to her, because I knew she was going to accept me.

"What I'm trying to say, Ash, is that we're kinda at that place, too. I don't care how long it takes, or how much work it takes, as long as you're willing to work with me on this. And you don't necessarily have to talk to me today, or tomorrow, but when you're ready to talk, I'll be ready to listen. And if you need time to just be-- some time to just grab at some fragment of the way things used to be-- and you want me to be in the room while you do something else, just ask. I'll do it." He stroked her hair one last time before edging off her bed. As he stood up, Ashley reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Will?" she waited until he turned his head to look back at her compassionately. "Thanks."

As Will shut Ashley's door behind him, he was surprised to see Watson coming down the hallway toward him with an enthused, almost excited look on his face. _Was he waiting in the hallway for me to come out of her room?_

"William! How did it go? What did Ashley have to say today?"

"Not much." Will was not feeling like sharing with Watson. Feeling a little creeped out by the man, actually. "And you should know better than to ask something like that, what with confidentiality and all."

Watson pulled back and just stood there with a shocked look on his face (like Will had slapped him) as Will continued down the hall.

* * *

So, I know this was not what some of you were expecting form this chapter, but I think Ashley is very vulnerable under the tough aura she projects and would take something like this very hard. And don't worry, you'll get your "confrontation" scene soon enough (translation: the chapter after next), where Will has to put his foot down with Ashley on a few issues. But today, you get the softie side.

In case anybody is wondering, the song is "Takes a Little Time" by Amy Grant.


	4. Lunch

_**Lunch**_

Will would never be able to remember what they'd been talking about over lunch a little over an hour and a half later. The memory seemed to start with the sudden absence of sound around the table.

He looked up from his bowl of soup to see Henry and Watson's shocked expressions and Magnus-- Magnus looked like she was about to start crying. Steve and Two-Face were rather hard to judge facial expressions on, and the Big Guy had left to see about something in the kitchen. He was just about to turn and find out what had brought this on when a hand gently squeezed his shoulder and Ashley said, "Thanks for not hating me."

Will looked up at her, slowly smiling as if to say, _I could never hate you, Ashley_.

Henry, on the other side of the table, was busy trying to figure out this new dynamic. _The only empty seat is right next to Will. Will that be too awkward? Will it scare her away if she realizes joining us would mean sitting next to him? Should I offer to trade places, or would that just make things weirder? Oh, God, she hasn't been out of her bedroom for anything for eleven days now, I couldn't bear it if she got scared away by having to sit next to him right away._

Henry was by no means the only one trying to figure out how to get Ashley to actually sit at the table with them. Magnus's thoughts were running along a parallel track. Will's were actually not that different, although there was a good bit of satisfaction and joy mixed in that she was willing to make this step. Will was also fairly certain that since she'd come out of her room, she'd mention it if she felt uncomfortable sitting next to him. _Besides, she was sitting a lot closer than that a couple hours ago._

Watson, however, was struggling with a slightly different conundrum. Having reasoned from Will's expression, curt reply, and what he'd taken for avoidance of him earlier that day, he'd thought Will's talk with Ashley must have gone rather badly. _And yet, here she is at the table. _To tell the truth, Watson was as close to flabbergasted as he had been in a very long time._How did he get her out here after one talk? She's been ignoring everyone, hiding in her room, barely touching the trays brought to her room, and now after only one talk, he's got her out of her prison and into the dining room? How the hell did he manage that?_

All the reasoning in the room stopped abruptly as Ashley spoke. "Is that the Big Guy's cantelope soup?" She sat down in the empty seat next to Will and there were several stifled sighs of relief. "Man, I could really go for some of that right now."

Henry needed an output for his relief, so he yelled at the top of his lungs towards the kitchen, "Can we get another bowl of soup in here?"

Magnus opened her mouth to scold him, but the words never came out. _After all, I can hardly chide him for screaming when I was considering doing something similar, can I now? Besides, the look on Bigfoot's face when he came through the door growling and muttering about people with a big mouth and no patience, only to stop cold and mid-sentence when he saw Ashley, was well worth the momentary discomfort to my eardrums._

"Be right back." He turned and stumped away at a quicker-than normal pace. A few (okay, all) of the table's occupants thought he might have broken into a run as soon as he was through the door, since he was back in record time with Ashley's soup and a glass of water for her.

The silence at the table continued as Ashley dipped her spoon into the soup, raised it to her mouth, and ate her first bite. Then, somewhat uncomfortable with her audience, she said in as even a tone as she could manage, "Isn't anybody else going to enjoy this soup?"

Which, of course, made everyone hurriedly look down at their bowl and take a bite of soup.

After a few moments of eating in silence, Watson caught Will's eye and began, "Apparently, I asked ..." However, he broke off abruptly as Will gave one slow, silent shake of his head, along with a pointed glare that said clearly, _Leave. It. Alone_.

Both of which went completely unnoticed by Henry, whose awed stage whisper of "Dude, how did you do it? How'd you get her to come out of her room?" was clearly audible to Ashley, who took the liberty of answering for Will.

"Maybe," she paused, "I was just hungry, Henry." There was a distinct iciness in her tone. Turning to face Will, she asked, "Does everyone know you came to talk to me this morning?"

"Um. Do now." Will briefly considered quickly putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth and then keeping it there for as long as possible to forestall questions, but decided against it. "Henry knew because we were playing Wolfenstein together when Watson gave me the go-ahead yesterday afternoon."

"Oh." Ashley considered this a moment. "Wolfenstein? You?"

"Yes, me. Playing Wolfenstein. Why does everyone have such a hard time believing that?" Noticing that Watson was trying to hide a grin, Will realized he, too, thought it was amusing. "Well, anyone care to explain why that's so surprising?"

Ashley answered, "Well, you just don't really seem like the type to go for a first-person shooter game."

"Now there's an understatement," added Henry.

"What? So you mean that just because I don't have as much experience with real guns as some people here," (Ashley snorted at this) "you think I'm too much of a wimp for Wolfenstein? I'm still a guy." Will's tone was more than slightly defensive by the end of this statement.

"As I recall," interjected Watson, "he was claiming victory over Henry when I interrupted the game."

"No, he was claiming victory BECAUSE you interrupted the game. Important difference there, man." Henry stopped gesturing at Watson with his spoon and pointed it across the table at Will while adding, "And I refuse to pay up until you beat me without someone sneaking into the room and yelling in the middle of my turn."

"I did not sneak anywhere! And I only yelled to be sure of being heard!" Will and Henry both ignored Watson's outburst.

"And what happens if we both finish beating all the levels of Castle Offenbach with neither of us dying? What if we both beat Fat Face?" Will asked casually. "Then does my win stand?"

"No, then we go by high score."

"But what are the chances of that?" Ashley wanted to know.

"Oh, I'd say pretty good, he's only got one level to go," Henry answered.

"And you have two left. Lotsa killing to do. Don't let the mutants get you next time if you don't want to shell out the twenty." Will's voice was taunting.

"Am I to understand that this game encourages the killing of abnormals?" Helen's voice conveyed a mixture of mild surprise and horror.

"Only if by 'abnormals' you mean Nazi-experiment-gone-wrong mutant corpses with extra arms sticking out of their chests," Henry attempted to explain.

"And don't worry, Mom, it's an equal-opportunity type of game; you get to kill everyone. Plain old human Nazis, too."

Everyone turned to stare at Ashley after that statement, and the sudden silence was broken by Henry's laughter and disjointed, giggled comments, "Equal opportunity... kill everybody..."

Eventually Ashley and then Will joined the laughter, and Helen and James cracked matching smiles at the absurdity of the younger adults. None of them was able to explain satisfactorily when Bigfoot returned with the main course and wanted to know what was so funny.

So they left the explanation to Steve.


	5. I'm Ready

_**I'm Ready**_

Three days later, Will was working on paperwork in his office when he heard a gentle knock on the door. "Come in," he called, shuffling the papers into a file.

"I think ... I'm ready to talk ... if you've got a minute."

"Absolutely, Ash." He cracked a grin. "Told you I'd be ready when you were, didn't I?"

"Yes ... um, Will, could we sit on the couch instead of..." she waved at his desk.

He was already moving toward her and the couch as he answered, "Sure."

Once they sat down, Ashley looked at her lap. _Geez, I am so nervous. I thought I was ready, but what if I can't get the words out. _She started drawing patterns on her jeans with a fingertip._ What if I get started and he changes his mind about forgiving me? What if I can't say it without bawling again? What if I get started and I can't stop? What if..._

"Ashley." Will gently clasped her nervously moving hands. "Just start talking. Say whatever you wanted to say. It'll be easier once you get started."

_Oh, why does he have to be so understanding?_

_That's a good thing, moron. If he wasn't so understanding, he'd hate your guts._

_Just do it, already, so you can run away and hide again for a while._

_Yeah, 'cause that's a good plan. -mental snort at the idea-_

"Ashley? Are you sure you're ready? Because if you want to try again another day, that's okay."

"No." Ashley stiffened her back in resolve. "I'm ready." _Here goes..._

"First of all, I want to say I'm sorry, Will. No, no." Ashley shushed Will as he opened his mouth to tell her she didn't need to apologize. "I do need to say I'm sorry. How you could ever think that I don't is beyond me, really, I mean... after what I did to you, I should have to apologize every single day of my life. You're my friend, Will, you were a close friend, and I took that and I destroyed it. I betrayed your trust. I RAPED YOU, for crying out loud! Of course I owe you an apology.

"And don't try and say it was all the damn nubbins, either, because as much as I would like to blame it on the little buggers, it can't all be their fault. Not entirely.

"I mean, the whole thing happened because I shot you. And yes, it was an accident, but if you'd've been awake, it never would've happened. You'd have stopped me. Or I wouldn't have been quite so out of my head and alone with you. You'd have been able to go upstairs yourself and we never would've been alone in the tunnels."

Will was thinking hard at this point as to how he was going to rebut this argument; he actually hadn't considered it from that particular angle. _Well, it wasn't like I was ever exactly mad at her for shooting me..._

"And then there's the whole thing with Henry. Because, you see, my exposure to the Nubbin hormones should've peaked while I was with him in that stupid habitat. I should've been coming way down off of it by the time I got back down to you in the tunnels, it must have been at least forty-five minutes later. So, if it really was ALL the nubbins' fault, it should've been Henry I attacked, and thank God I didn't, because if that was the case, I don't think I could get over it. It's just too... too wrong. He's my brother. Admittedly, that did not stop me from staring like a perve until my brain kicked in with the 'Ew! Yuck! Gross!' messages, but the point is, my brain did kick in and stop me then. I thought I had myself under control before I went back down to get you. And then I found you and I was so glad you were alive and not shocked to death....

Will was being forced to rethink a lot of his previous ideas about how this had gone down due to Ashley's babbled revelations. _Maybe I should ask for a breather. I was not expecting to hear all this about shooting me and Henry and don't blame the nubbins-- scratch that, don't only blame the nubbins-- and her not being able to rape Henry and her thinking I was dead. Wait a minute, _"Why the hell would you think that I was dead?"

"While I was on my way down to get you-- I was almost there-- and then Henry called to say that there was a major power line down and that if I touched the break in the wire, it could kill me. And I remembered you were grabbing for the nubbin and it was chewing on that cable and I started to think what if I didn't just tranq you, what if you had accidentally touched the cable and you weren't just asleep, you were dead, and I was so worried, I started running to find you and it took me a couple minutes to find your pulse and I was just so worried that you wouldn't have one. And then when you did, I was so relieved, for a second I thought my heart was gonna stop, I mean, you have no idea how happy I was that you were alive and ..."

"And there's your explanation, right there. You were not only under the influence of nubbin hormones, your own hormones and emotions were running very high at the moment as well. That's why you lost control, Ash. You ..." Will continued talking, but Ashley was thinking to hard to listen very well.

She was amazed at how calmly and analytically Will could look at the whole situation. _What the hell? I tell him I thought he was dead and then he uses the information to comfort me? I mean seriously, was there no emotional impact to that statement at all? If he told me he thought I was dead, think there might be a little bit of a knee jerk reaction, like standing up and screaming or something. More than that little puzzled look and question. And I definitely would not be hearing that explanation and_ _then calmly explaining how it fits into the big picture. I mean, professional detachment is one thing, but from his reactions, you'd think we were talking about something that happened to somebody else._

_Well, he was unconscious._

_He doesn't remember any of it. Ho. Ly. Shit. Maybe for him it is almost like it happened to someone else._

_But then to have to deal with everybody's reactions... everybody knowing about it before him. Oh, hell. That must have been embarrassing. Frustrating. And me hiding... that probably just made it all harder for him. Oh, ..._

Ashley refocused as Will's tone went from calm to more serious, almost stringent. "But Ash-- this is important-- you were not responsible for your actions at that point." He put a hand on her knee and added sternly, "No. I will not take any argument on that. You have already admitted that you were having trouble controlling yourself before you went into emotional turmoil over my welfare and probably sent gallons of adrenaline and endorphins pumping through your system by running through the tunnels to find me. That would multiply the effect of the nubbin hormones.

"Think of it like someone who's been given rufies. They are not held responsible for any sex they engage in, even if to bystanders it might appear consensual. Same thing here. It might look to somebody who didn't know the whole story like you wanted this to happen. But you didn't really, and you can not be held responsible for the actions of your body when you were under the influence of chemicals to the point where you didn't know if you were awake or asleep!

Will paused to take a breath before continuing to a semi-stunned Ashley, "Furthermore, this whole argument about the tranq dart ... is ridiculous. I will let you apologize for accidentally tranqing me if it makes you feel better, but you and I both know that you were aiming for that damn nubbin. And this whole thing about if you hadn't tranqed me, then none of what happened later could've happened ... well, it's just a bad way to think. If is not is. If is not was. If can not change the present or the past, it can only load you down with unnecessary guilt. So, please, stop thinking like that, Ash. We're trying to deal with guilt and move past it here, not dig up more to bury ourselves in.

"Because let's face it, if we're going to start saying 'If', then I have to start taking on more of the blame, too. If I had announced my presence, you wouldn't have shot me. If' I hadn't been trying to capture a nubbin with my bare hands, you wouldn't have shot me. If I hadn't been frustrated by the lack of electricity in my room, I wouldn't have been down in the tunnels to begin with and none of this would have ever happened." Will shut up because with every sentence, Ashley was looking more horrified.

After a minute, she spoke. "Okay, I guess I see your point. It doesn't make sense to blame it all on the tranq dart. But you don't really believe that it was your fault, do you?"

Will nearly laughed at her concern, but managed not to. "No, Ash, I was just trying to prove a point that there were many things that led up to IT, but saying that they were the cause of IT does not make sense."

Ashley sighed in relief. "Good. So if I say I'm sorry for shooting you, we can let that go?"

"Yep. It's gone. Water under the bridge and over the dam, last year's rain, mud in the fire, and all that."

"And you really don't blame me for ... the rest of it? You really don't think it's my fault?"

Ashley had actually heard this several times already from her mother and Watson, but she had to make sure that it really was how Will felt.

"No, Ashley." Will paused, "Although after all I've heard today, I am kind of wondering if you were thinking 'Ew! Yuck! Gross!' while it was happening. Or when you realized what had happened."

Ashley's eye's nearly popped out of her head_. 'Ew? Yuck? Gross?' With Will? Not hardly! More like Yummy! or He's so Hot! or OhmyGod I just screwed up what could have been my best shot at love! Ever! or What HAVE I done? But I didn't expect to have to tell him that today. I'm not sure I'm ready for that ..._ Luckily, Ashley realized Will was talking in time to catch the end of his sentence.

"... never have asked that. I was out of line, you don't have to answer that." _Although if I'm reading your body language correctly, that couldn't have been further from the mark._

_Don't let the grin hit your face, Zimmerman. Don't you dare, or you'll just make another mess._

Ashley stared down at her lap. She was surprised to see that Will was still holding one of her hands and had his other hand on her knee. She blinked. _I didn't even notice._

_So now what?_

_I dunno, why don't you ask him?_

Ashley cleared her throat and looked back up at Will's face. "So now what?"

"Now, we start over at the beginning. Clean slate. We get to hang out again and work together again, and it might seem a little awkward at first, but not really any different than when I first started working here was awkward."

"Oh. Okay." Ashley hopped up, as if the very word awkward was making her more so by the second. _Which is absurd, really. Him saying it might be awkward sometimes does not make it so. And it's no reason to be nervous, after all, didn't he just say he's going to treat it like it never happened?_

Ashley was halfway out the door before she managed to rein in her wild thoughts and emotions a bit. Reined them in enough to pop her head back around the door, anyway-- and see _Will was watching me leave?_

_I could swear he was checking out my butt! _

_No, that's crazy. _

_Just ask him, already._ "So Will, up for a video game later?"

"Count on it." As the door shut, Will smiled broadly. _Glad that's outa the way. If we can keep up this pace, things'll be back to normal in a month._

_Course, she might need to hear all of that again tomorrow. And there's probably plenty more stuff to talk about where that came from. And judging by the nervous behaviors and the jumping up and fleeing at the end, she's not comfortable being alone with me yet. But it's still good progress. Even if we do that again every day for the next week. But I think she was listening. What's more, I think she HEARD. Oh, I hope she did. 'Cause I sure heard a few things I didn't expect._

_Wonder if she'll go through with that video game invite or try to chicken out? Hmmm. Maybe I should see if I can get Henry in on this, too. He likes video games just as much as the two of us, and he'd be a good buffer for her so that being with me is a little closer to her comfort zone. Having others around certainly seemed to help at lunch a few days ago. She even laughed._

Will smiled at the memory_. It's equal-opportunity, you get to kill everybody._

_Yeah, let's definitely get Henry in on the video games tonight._


	6. Goldeneye

_**Goldeneye**_

Will was rummaging in a box when Henry walked through his open door that afternoon and then leaned against the jamb. "Hey man, when are we gonna get around to finishing the Wolfenstein tourney?'

"Um, not sure. Maybe later tonight? I dunno. Why?" Will's mind was not really focused on Henry. _Although maybe I should have thought first ... After all, I was gonna go ask him to join me and Ash later ... at least, if I can find ..._

"No reason. Just thought you might have a bit of free time and want to hang is all."

_There it is!_ "Knew it was in here somewhere!" Will's tone was triumphant, but that just made Henry feel ignored. _Now to set the master plan in motion ..._

"Well, you're obviously working on something else, so see you later man."

_What? Oh, shit, ticked him off, he thought I was ignoring him._

_Which I kinda was..._

"Henry! Wait, Henry!" Will practically skidded into the hallway and then ran to catch up with Henry, who really wasn't all that far from his door yet.

_Dude, What's with him today? _ Henry was confused by the rapid change. _First he ignores me in favor of rummaging through a box, then he runs into the hall after me like I'm vitally important? Mood swings much?_

"Henry, I'm sorry if it didn't seem like I was paying attention to you back there. It's just, I was trying to find something." Realizing he had it in his hand still, Will held it up. "This. And my controller."

"007 Goldeneye?" Henry was trying to piece together why this game would be so important to Will (or himself for that matter) or why it would require another controller. "Wait a minute- is that the one where you can have multiple shooters? Where it splits the screen like the racing games?"

"Yeah!" Will gushed. "So I figured, after Wolfenstein, we could really take each other on to see who's better at this. Either as a straight deathmatch or 'you only live twice'." Will was so excited, his eyes were practically sparkling and his grin was nearly off his face. "But if you want to do it tonight, we'll have to include Ash, 'cause I already promised I'd play video games with her tonight."

"You sure that's a good idea, asking her to play games with you? She's still spending a lot of time in her room..." Henry's voice trailed off uncertainly.

"She asked me. What was I gonna do, say no?" Will's voice left little doubt that he had not even considered that option.

"Oh." Henry thought a moment. "You sure she won't mind if I join you two?"

"I doubt it." Will laughed mirthlessly. "I half-expect her to chicken out at the last minute." He paused. "Or get uncomfortable if she comes if and it's just the two of us. Hence the need for the third controller that I was digging around for. I was gonna come ask if you'd join us tonight as a favor, just to maybe increase her comfort zone a little."

Another pause as Henry digested that. "Not that I'd mind taking you on just for the fun of it. 'Cause I enjoy doing that, and I'd love to do that again with you some other time. But for tonight, I'm asking you to join us for Ash. Please?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, man. Anything."

_Is he answering on autopilot?_ Will wondered.

"But I don't think we should tell her all that. Let's just tell her I couldn't wait to try this out, too." Henry grinned widely. "Don't want her to think we're conspiring against her, or we'll both get our asses handed to us on a platter."

Will laughed again. "I think you're absolutely right about that, Henry. Later?"

"Yeah, later." Will and Henry started to walk away from their impromptu meeting, both savoring the anticipation of some very intense competition.

_Wait a second, did he say... _Will turned around again to ask, "Hey, did you just say "Try this out"- as in, you've never played it before?"

"Well, yeah. I guess. So?"

"But this has been out for like fifteen years. And you love video games. And this one is awesome and everybody knows it. How can you NOT have played this before?"

"Well, aside from online gaming buddies, the only person I've ever really played video games with is Ashley."

"And?" Will didn't understand how this would stop him.

Henry rubbed the back of his head. "Will, you gotta understand, I was only like fifteen or sixteen when that came out, and Ash was like eleven and just starting to go from cute little girl to bad-ass, and there was that whole thing about violent video games making kids more violent... and Mom just shut us down. I think we got nothing but stuff like Grand Turismo and Creatures and Sim City for like, the next five years, 'cause Mom knew whatever I got, Ash would play too. And by the time Mom gave up on trying to keep Ash away from guns and knives and kicking ass on a regular basis, well, it was kind of - old hat, I guess. By then, I'd already moved on to online gaming. World of Warcraft, and all."

"So that's why you have all those racing games."

"Well, they're fun, too. Not as good as the real thing," Henry shrugged, "but then, you don't get tickets for a video game, either."

Will chuckled. Then he cocked his head and asked, "So Ash has never tried Goldeneye either?"

"Not that I know of."

The diabolical grin returned to Will's face. "Then there's no way she'll be able to resist. I think I better go give her the good news. And let her know you'll be joining us."


	7. Deathmatch

_**Deathmatch**_

"So."

Will stared back at Henry.

"How long are we gonna wait for her?"

Will laughed. "Itchy trigger finger, Henry?"

A sheepish look from Henry was followed by: "You said yourself she might chicken out."

"Not on Goldeneye. Apparently she's been waiting years for a Deathmatch. She'll be here soon."

"We could do a practice."

Will chuckled some more.

Ashley came running into the room, vaulted the couch, and landed squarely between the two men. "What's the joke? What'd I miss? Is it ready to go? You said you had a third controller so we could all play!"

Will chuckled again as Henry looked chastened by Ashley's sudden appearance. He also picked up the third controller off of the coffee table and handed it to Ashley.

They each chose a character and then began the Facility level.

Within seconds, it seemed, red was splashing vividly across Henry's screen. "Hey, what the hell?" he yelled as his screen went briefly gray and then immediately back to red. At Will's evil laugh, he refocused on Will's portion of the screen in time to watch his character die again, and again, and again. Will was standing over his body, waiting for it to come back to life so that he could hit it with another headshot. And another. And another.

Focusing with all of his might, Henry attempted several times to get Will as soon as he began to come back to life, but apparently he couldn't slap from the ground and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't switch to his gun in time to shoot Will. His fingers were starting to ache from trying, even. That usually took several hours of hard gaming.

A grunt from the other end of the couch and a crow from Ashley would have alerted him even if he hadn't been keeping half an eye on the other screens. "Thanks, Ash!" he said as he said, gratefully acknowledging her murder of the on-screen Will, giving him a chance to finally get all the way back to life. He took the opportunity to repay one of Will's shots before taking off. He would have liked to shoot him some more, except if Ash could find Will and kill him, she could surely come back and do it again the other way around_. Wonder why she didn't just stay there and keep killing us both?_

Henry had just found the golden gun and was wondering what made it special, Ashley had just switched over from the Walther PPK to throwing knives, and Will had just got himself killed by proximity mines when the timer ran out and the score screens popped up. Henry's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "I died 43 times in 5 minutes! You gotta be kidding me!"

"Don't look at me, I only got in 7 kills." Ashley stated, rather unnecessarily.

Henry leaned forward to glare at Will.

"What? I only killed you 37 times in a row before Ashley showed up to save your ass."

The death-glare continued. "You cheated."

"Did not."

"Did so. I don't know how you did, but you must have. How else could you find me so fast?"

"Looked at your screen to see where you were."

"See! I knew it! You cheated!"

"I did not! It took me a long time to memorize exactly what every location in every level looks like, I'll have you know! Just because I happen to have played the game before does not make me a cheater." He paused and cracked an evil grin. "Might give me a slightly unfair advantage, though."

"Dude, you are so going down. Right, Ash?"

"Oh, yeah. Hey, didn't I see a two-on-one mode in the setup?"


	8. Getting Rid of the Buffer

_**Getting Rid of the Buffer**_

_Ashley hesitated in the doorway. __Come on, you nincompoop. It's been more than a month since it happened. And you haven't been near him in nearly a month without somebody else also being in the room. _You can't expect to never be alone with him again, you know. 'S'not gonna happen. Sooner or later, you're going to end up in the field, on a mission, and it'll be the two of you working as a team while Mom does admin stuff and Henry does the geeky thing, so you might as well bite the bullet and just do something alone with him now and get it over with. 

_You wanted to go back to being friends. Friends are okay with being alone in the same room together. Friends don't have a nervous breakdown about talking to their friends. Friends aren't uncomfortable. So just do something, already._

_Like with the video games. You nearly chickened out, you were on the verge of going to him and asking for a raincheck when he came and asked if it was okay if Henry joined you too. And even then, you nearly called him to tell him to just hang with Henry. But once you worked up the guts to run up there and start playing a game with him, you had fun. A lot of fun. And it was only a few minutes before you started feeling comfortable with him again._

_So just get your ass in there and do something, already. As soon as you start talking or doing something, you'll be fine. And if you're not, well, you can go talk to Uncle James later._

_Geez, though, this really might have been easier if you had just let him do some of the counseling with you when Uncle James had to go back to England. But no, anything to avoid spending time alone with Will after that first time in his office. You really are a chicken, Ashley. It's not like he said anything scary to you that day._

_So now you have to come up with something that the two of you can do alone together. Because sooner or later, Henry will not be available as a buffer. _

_But what? Now it feels almost like I'd be splitting up the three musketeers to ask to do something with just Will. Me and him and Henry have been spending like all of our free time together for the past month. And if I do do something like pool or cards or video games or movies, it's gonna feel like a deliberate slight to Henry. Even if there was some way I could explain it coherently to Henry, I wouldn't feel right doing it._

_But what else do Will and I have in common? Work. Which is why I'm trying to figure out what we can do, so that I don't have to worry about it distracting me._

_Hmm. What to do, what to do?_

_Why don't you just hurry up and go in there and talk to him before Henry gets here?_

Will was a hundred and ten percent aware of the person standing in the doorway, staring at his back, as he idly played solitaire while waiting for Henry to arrive and the poker game to get started. He flipped three more cards down on the table, and then three more, not even noticing that he'd just covered a move. _Don't look at her, don't say anything that will make her nervous, just keep going like nothing is happening. Don't look at her. Don't say anything. Just keep playing. _

_God, it has never been so hard to just do nothing. _

_Don't react. Let her make the first move. Don't spook her. At least wait until she's all the way in the room. Then her pride will keep her coming. Do this right, she might even sit down and just start talking to you. Without a prompt or a go-between. _

_Wonder if there's a way I could tell Henry to be late? Wonder if I could get my phone out of my pocket and text him without Ashley noticing?_

_Nah, too big a risk. She's just staring at me, probably notices every move I make. So I should probably keep pretending to play cards if I don't want her to know I know she's there._ Will flipped a few more cards down, looked at them, and flipped a few more.

"Game's not going so well, huh?" Ashley strolled in, trying to be casual, and figuring the fact that he'd been flipping cards for several minutes without making a move was as good a topic as the weather.

"Uh..." Actually, Will hadn't really been paying enough attention to the game to be able to say with certainty. He decided to cut his losses and began scooping up the cards to shuffle again. "How you doing today, Ash?"

If I didn't know better, I'd think he was avoiding answering my question. "I'm fine."

"Uh-oh," Will deliberately tried to make himself sound scared and/or depressed by her answer, hoping she'd fall into the trap.

"Uh-oh? Why uh-oh?"

"Don't you know what fine stands for? Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional." That got a smile.

"And you, Will? How are you doing today?"

"I'm fi--- I'm good, thank you for asking." They were both wearing a grin now.

_Dang, I nearly had him with that one. Oh, how sad is that, that I'm trying to catch Will in a variation of the old "Are you sure?"-"I'm positive." gag._

Just then Henry entered. With a wink, Ashley asked him, "Hey, how are you today, Henry?"

Henry gave her a little look, thinking _What brought this on?_ before answering, "I'm fine." His confusion was magnified a hundredfold when Will and Ashley both started laughing.


	9. Night on the Town

_**Night on the Town**_

"Hey," Ashley called from the doorway. "You two interested in going somewhere else tonight? You know, getting out of the Sanctuary for once?"

Will and Henry looked up from their game of pool simultaneously. "Sure," answered Will. "What'd you have in mind?" _Don't stare at the tight leather, don't stare at tight leather, don't think about how hot she is..._

"Well, it's been a long time since I took my bike for a spin. We could go hit Crazy Eights."

"Ashley, what is the point of driving across town to play pool and drink beer? We can do that here." Henry took a healthy swig from his bottle for emphasis.

"Well, I thought it might be nice to actually win a game of pool for once. Not to mention the dancing and music."

Henry's eye roll communicated loud and clear that he could care less about the dancing, but Will said, "Why not?"

Henry growled in his throat. Will turned to him and asked, "What? you said yourself we can do the same stuff there that we were gonna do here, so why not go with her?"

"Maybe you missed the intended mode of transportation." Henry harruphed. "Okay, alright." He put his cue back in the rack and headed for the door. Looking back over his shoulder at Will, who was still digesting his abrupt mood change, he added, "Well, if we're going, let's go."

"So Ashley," asked Henry as he held the door to the garage open for the other two to walk through, "Did you stop to consider how Will would be getting to Crazy Eights if we're taking our bikes?"

"Well the rather logical assumption is that one of us would give him a ride."

Henry looked at Will. _Giving a friend in need a lift around town in one thing, but planning to go joyriding around town with another guy on the back of my bike?_

Will missed the look, given that he was staring at the ground._ Oh, great. So I get to hang on to the back of one of their bikes to get over there and either look gay or risk making Ashley uncomfortable. Suddenly I really wish I had not gotten rid of my old bike. Please, oh please, do not make me choose whose bike to ride on, because one way or another, I'm sure to get crap about it. If I ride with Henry, Ash will tease both of us about it incessantly, and if I ride with Ash, Henry'll be pissed._

Ashley didn't miss Henry's look or the fact that Will appeared uncomfortable, so she decided to make it easier for both of them. _There's no need to walk on eggshells around me anymore. I really wish our issues would stop interrupting at the worst possible moment like this._ "I thought he should ride with me." _A reason, Ashley, hurry up. Nothing too stupid!_ "Because, uh, I'm lighter and neither of our bikes is that powerful, and this way we could still race over there." _Well, that wasn't too bad, considering I pulled it out of my butt._ She handed Will a spare helmet and then pulled her own on.

Henry looked at Will, again, relieved, but feeling he owed his friend a warning. "She likes to go fast. Very fast. And jump things. And even though she's whining about the lack of power, she's jacked up the horsepower, torque, and speed to where her bike'll go about 180* as opposed to the factory 143, so hang on tight and don't let her catch you by surprise..."

"Let's just go, Henry. I'm sure Will'll figure out what riding with me is like in no time at all." Ashley threw her leg over her black Ninja impatiently_. Oh, please, let him be okay with this. Don't let him be hesitating just because he doesn't want to ride with _me.

"Um," Will stammered as he clambered on behind her, "Is there a good place to hang on?"

In reply, Ashley sat up straighter in the seat, grabbed his hands, and wrapped them around her waist before leaning forward again, sandwiching them between her stomach and the bike. As she tore out of the garage, she yelled at Henry: "Last one there buys the first round!"

It didn't take long for Henry to get his helmet on and follow her out.

Ten minutes later, Ashley was stopped at a light when Henry pulled up next to her and winked. "I thought we were gonna race?" he said nonchalantly.

Ashley gritted her teeth and started revving the engine. On an ordinary day, her retrofits provided her with an advantage over Henry. But with Will on the back of her bike, her advantage was nullified. _I'm gonna have to get devious and start taking some shortcuts if I wanna win._ "The bet's still on."

Henry shouldn't have been surprised by the statement- he had extensive first-hand knowledge of Ashley's competitive nature- but for some reason had half expected her to plead out of the deal given the fact that her bike was carrying double and how quickly he had caught up. He grinned in reply. "Hope you brought plenty of dough." The light changed and Henry sped off, looking over his shoulder momentarily when Ashley headed off in a sharp left-hand turn.

By the time they approached the bar, Will was pretty sure that he didn't want a drink no matter who was buying. At least not in the immediate future. Ashley had torn through the city at breakneck speed, dodging in and out of traffic. When they came to the river, the bridge being out hadn't stopped her; in fact, she seemed to know about it in advance, since she had not even tried the road but had gone up into a parking ramp. Then, four stories up, she used a 'convenient' piece of plywood as a ramp to get up and over the railing and launch them across the river, landing in a vacant lot on the other side. Most frightening for Will was the fact that she hadn't stopped to look before sending them hurtling over the water. She had also taken the bike into pedestrian walkways, down stairs, and through side alleys full of dumpsters and fire escapes. _And I don't think she dropped below fourth gear after waiting for that light with Henry. That was the last pause, for sure_.

"Do you see Henry anywhere?" Ashley asked.

Looking carefully through the assortment of bikes, cars, and people in front of the neon-lit bar, Will replied, "Nope."

"What!"

Hearing Henry's shriek made Will and Ashley both turn as much as possible while still on the bike. Henry pulled up next to them with an absolutely thunderstruck look on his face. "How on earth did you two beat me here?"

"Ingenuity, how else?"

With Ashley's smile beaming back at him like the sun, Henry found it hard to stay angry, especially when Will gave a tight laugh and added, "Yeah, that and I think we nearly broke the sound barrier a couple times. I know we flew!"

Several hours later, Will was playing a game of pool. Actually, he'd done little else but play pool all evening. Henry had played a few games as his partner, and played a few at the table next to him, but he hadn't seen him for some time. Ashley wandered over every once in a while to check out the games, but she had spent most of the night on the dance floor. Thus, Will was getting bored.

Pool was an okay game. But for him, it became an exercise in using his skills. With his observational skills and the way he sometimes got 'insights', well, it was really just a matter of not screwing up the shots due to lack of concentration, because he could always just see where the ball was going to go on any given shot. He didn't consciously have to work out the geometry like Henry did, he just saw it, and knew.

Now, you throw in an interesting conversation to distract him a bit, as well as a good opponent, and it could be pretty fun. The problem was, he was pretty much out of good opponents, and conversation was nearly nonexistent once Henry was no longer there to talk to.

And so, playing pool had turned into a series of bets that no one could beat him. And apparently, everyone in the place wanted a shot. _It's all Henry's fault. He started this, with that stupid wise-ass bet of his._

_-earlier-_

They'd been getting ready to start their fourth game- Henry had already lost three- when a tough-looking guy with a ponytail and a Harley jacket had walked up and told Henry maybe he should consider lessons.

"Oh, yeah? You think you could do better?"

"Yeah." The reply was growled.

"Well, now, how about a wager? I bet Will here can beat you hands-down, in less than half an hour."

"Henry..." Will had tried to intercede then, having some idea of where this was going.

But the biker had no intention of backing down. "I got a hundred that says he's got no chance."

"Done." And Henry had asked to take on the winner of the game at the next table after collecting his hundred from the biker. After that, the occasional remark was all Will got for conversation during a string of matches brought on by his friend's confidence in his abilities.

_It's really nice that he believes in me so much. But I'm getting sick of this._ He sank the eight ball and handed off his cue to a random bystander.

"Hey dude, don't be leavin' now!" came a bark at his back. "I've been waiting near two hours for a chance to take you on."

Will didn't even look over his shoulder. "It'll have to wait for some other time."

Suddenly, three large men blocked his way, standing in the doorway between the area with the pool tables and the dance floor. "You've been cleaning up pretty tidy over there, little man. Maybe you should go give people a chance to win some of their money back before you split."

Will groaned inwardly. _I really do not feel like a bar fight, or getting beat to a pulp, or giving in and going back over there to play another game. I could throw one, I guess. _"One more game?" he asked hopefully.

The man in the middle looked over Will's head. Then he nodded. "One more. Now get back up there, punk."

_So, do I actually try to win this one, or do I lose on purpose just to have a better shot of getting out of here in one piece?_

"Bet's three hundred this time." growled the heavyset man holding the pool cue out to him. "And if I think you're trying to throw it, we beat your ass anyway."

_Guess that answers that question._ Will looked on as the other man broke, hoping that he was a better opponent than the last six.

Four balls later, Will was thinking this might not be so bad after all. The guy had yet to miss a shot. _At least he's good enough that if I flub one or two shots, he's got a chance of winning. He might have actually been fun to play against if he hadn't threatened me to get me to. Oh, that one doesn't have enough speed. Not going in, which means I'm up._

Will was leaning over the table to sink his third ball when he heard "Will? You about ready to leave yet?" It wasn't much of a distraction, but it was enough. He didn't see Ash immediately, but she scooted through the onlookers to stand next to him. As the crowd oohed, she asked, "Did I just screw up your shot? I'm sorry."

"No problem." Will meant it, since she'd given him an excellent excuse to miss the shot and let the other man take a few more shots without risking a beating. "We'll go when I'm done with this game, okay?"

"Okay." Ashley watched the game behind him for a second. Then her eyes narrowed as his opponent sank a ball and she suddenly giggled. "Are you _losing_?"

Will turned to stand next to her and face the table as well. "At the moment, I guess I am."

Ashley laughed again. "Oh, I've got to remember to tell Henry when we get home that he left _way_ too early! Just think, he could have watched somebody beat you at pool if he'd stuck around. After all the games he's lost..."

Apparently her giggling was getting on the other man's nerves, because he looked up and glared at Ashley until she fell silent. Then he sank another ball.

He seemed to hit the next ball perfectly. It rolled right up to the edge of the pocket and then stopped, only a breath away from falling in. The crowd groaned.

Will took the next five shots with ease, finishing the game quickly. As he called the final shot and watched the eight ball head for the pocket, he scooped the cash up off the edge of the table, put an arm on Ashley's back, and headed for the door. As he passed the other man, he commented, "You play well. Maybe we'll have a rematch sometime."

"It's not fair," Ashley pouted as he steered her out. "You can beat Uncle James at chess sometimes and apparently take on the world at pool. Is there any game you can't win?"

"Wolfenstein," Will deadpanned. "I have yet to beat Henry's high score. And I'm pretty sure that we're close to a three-way tie now on Goldeneye."

Ashley laughed loudly and gave him a friendly shove. "Okay, hot stuff, get on the bike."

_Did she just call me hot stuff? And was that teasing about my winning streak or ... Don't go there, Will, just do what she said and get on the bike._

As he put on the helmet, Will asked, "So can we go home more slowly than we drove on the way over here?"

His answer was a fiendish grin and a wink tossed over the shoulder in front of him. He climbed on behind Ashley starting to feel slightly nervous. "Can we at least take another route? One with a bridge?"

A laugh floated back to him as Ashley made it to third gear before they were even completely out of the parking lot.

*For those of you used to the metric system, 180 mph ~ 300 kph. Oh, and I'm make-believing that Ashley's bike is a Kawasaki Ninja 500R that's undergone substantial retrofitting. Just in case you were wondering.


	10. What's Different?

_**What's Different?**_

A night of dancing, drinking, and either watching people play pool or taking them on wasn't something new for Ashley. Giving someone a ride on the back of her bike wasn't new either. And coming home to the Sanctuary late at night- she did that almost as often as not.

_So why does tonight feel so different?_ Ashley wondered as walked next to Will as they both headed to their rooms.

At the same time, Will was reflecting, _It sure is nice to finally get rid of the awkwardness. At least most of it. It's been getting a lot better over the last week or so, but this- walking down the hall, alone together, not talking- we couldn't have even done this last week without it being really awkward and unpleasant. But Ash doesn't look awkward- just sort of pensive. And the way she wrapped my hands around her waist tonight- she would not have been comfortable doing that a few days ago._ He sighed, relaxed. _Maybe it's the booze. But it still feels more comfortable today than it did yesterday. Shoot, it still feels more comfortable now than it did this morning. It's nice. I want to do this again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that and maybe every day..._

Ashley realized they were at her door. She stopped, and Will stopped, not really seeming to notice their location, but merely stopping because she stopped. _Which is so adorable, because I know it's not some kind of stupid ploy or anything. He doesn't even really seem to be concentrating on me at the moment, it's just that chivalrous nature..._

_Do not feel hurt by the fact that he's not concentrating on you, Ash. That also means he's not concentrating on any leftover weirdness between us._

_At least, I don't think he is._

_He didn't protest riding on my motorcycle tonight. Or the way I wrapped his hands around my waist. He even did that himself on the way home. _Ashley couldn't stop the grin that suddenly came to her face, and unconsciously started to trace her fingertips where Will had laced his fingers on her midriff, the warmth of his hands making her completely un-sorry about failing to zip up her leather jacket.

The sudden smile on Ashley's face brought Will out of his reverie. _She's so beautiful when she smiles!_ "Did you say something, Ash?"

"Uh, no." _Why are his lips so interesting all of a sudden?_

_You know perfectly well why, _Ashley's inner voice purred. _You like to imagine those lips doing all sorts of things that have nothing to do with talking._

_Stop staring at his lips, you idiot!_

_I could drown in those eyes._

Ashley fumbled behind her for the door handle to her room. _Must get out of here! What's wrong with me tonight? I haven't thought about doing that with Will since..._

_since..._

_It._

_Oh, no! I still want him! And there is no way! No way on earth he'd want a relationship with me. _Ashley's compulsion to hide grew even stronger. Her hands finally managed to get the door open, and she had scooted halfway through the door before managing to squeak out, "I had a great time tonight, Will. G'night!"

And then she shut the door in his face.

Leaving a very confused Will standing in the hallway, wondering, _Now what in the hell was that? We went from comfortable silence, to staring, to running away in a panic, in like twenty seconds flat._

Will started walking towards his room again._ And what was the deal with staring at my face? Have I got something on my face?_ Will paused and looked at his reflection in the window at the end of the hall. _Nope, nothing on my face. So what was her deal? What did I do that spooked her so much?_

Back in her room, Ashley was leaning against the door, her heart thumping and her breath coming in great pants like she'd just run a marathon. Running her fingers through her hair, she wondered, _Now what am I gonna do? I just got used to being comfortable being his friend again, but now_...

... the images came rushing back. Every wonderful dream, every intense look, the way Will had looked without his shirt on...

... only to be spoiled when those thoughts led her back to what had happened in the tunnels. The hand in her hair gripped tightly- so tightly she almost ripped out a hank without meaning to. _Oh, God! Now what am I gonna do?_


	11. Botched Lesson

_**Botched Lesson**_

"Hey, you feel like playing Goldeneye later?" It was a fairly simple question, but it made Will think of Ashley, and the momentary distraction was enough for Henry to land a kick and put him on his back on the mat.

"Will, Will, Will, what have I told you about paying attention?"

"Talking's okay as long as my mind is focused." The aikido lesson was not going well today.

"So, how come I've had you on the mat like ten times in the last fifteen minutes?"

_Because my mind is more focused on the last few days than now?_ Will groaned. _Because I can't stop thinking of Ash? Because I keep wondering what I did to make her uncomfortable around me again?_

When Will sat up but stayed down on the mat, Henry decided to plop down next to him. "Hey, man, you've obviously got something on your mind and you're not going to be learning anything today unless you can either drop it or deal with it. Since you obviously can't forget about it, how about confiding in your good buddy? Promise I'm not gonna laugh, no matter how stupid it is."

Will snorted. "Wish it was something that you'd laugh at."

Henry wasn't sure what could be eating at Will, but he figured if the man might open up if he just waited silently for a few minutes.

Will sighed. "Have you noticed anything different about Ashley the last few days?"

"Not really. Why?" _Shoot, I shoulda known if he was gonna be distracted, it would be on account of Ashley._

Will's eyebrows arched. _Really? Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe I'm imagining things. Or maybe it's just been subtle enough that Henry didn't pick up on it._ Will rubbed his chin with a hand. _Or maybe it just that it's only me that she seems to be uncomfortable with._

Henry might not be able to read body language as well as Will, but he could tell Will thought Ashley had been acting different. "So how is it you think she's been acting different?"

Will looked back up at Henry, immensely grateful that he hadn't just dismissed his suspicions out of hand. "Well... it started the night we went to Crazy Eights. When we got back, I walked with her as far as her room, and while we were walking, she seemed really comfortable with me again. I mean, we weren't even talking or anything, but it wasn't an awkward silence, either. We were both just thinking, I guess. But then we got to her room, and she stopped and smiled at me. And not just a little smile, but that really high intensity, I'm gonna outshine the sun, beaming smile she gets sometimes. And then, she just stared at me a minute, and then she said she had a good time in this really squeaky voice and slammed the door in my face.

"And ever since then, it's like she has trouble meeting my eyes. She's fine being in the room with me, doing stuff together, but when she talks, she has this tendency to look at the floor and it, I dunno, I could swear everything she's said to me in the past four days has come out either all breathless or high-pitched and squeaky. It's just confusing, because it I can't think of anything that I might have done to make her uncomfortable with me again."

Henry was mentally replaying every time that he had seen his sister with Will over the past few days by the time that Will's voice trailed off into silence. _Whoa, he's right! How on earth did I not realize that? How could I not notice that was going on?_ Henry shook his head. _Dude, where's my head been, that I didn't realize that she wasn't looking at him anymore? _

_Because she has been looking at him._ Henry groaned and rubbed his forehead with a palm as other images of the last few days crystallized in his mind's eye. _She's been eyeing him like a Big Mac after a day in the field with no lunch- when she thinks no one's looking. Just like she did with..._

"Henry? You okay?"

Will's voice interrupted his thoughts, but was not enough to drown out the conclusion: _She's attracted to him. _"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. I just hadn't realized- until you said that-" Henry failed to conclude the thought as he mentally pummeled himself_. Great, just great! Now what are you gonna tell him? You can't just tell him. After what happened down in the tunnels, that would probably just freak him out. And it would be like telling one of Ash's secrets. Shit, shit, shit! What the hell are you gonna tell him so he doesn't worry about it being his fault that she's acting weird around him again? What can you possibly say?_ Henry groaned again. _The person who really needs to talk to him is Ash..._

"Will, I can appreciate the fact that you're confused by the way that Ash has been treating you. But it might not be as bad as you think." Henry ignored the skeptical look on Will's face. "Listen, I'm not sure she realizes she's doing it this time-" _and she sure as hell doesn't realize you picked up on it-_ he added mentally, "and if you just talk to her about it, she might be able to explain."

_Whatever._ Will might not have said it, but Henry read his opinion of that plan from his facial expression.

Henry groaned internally. _Guess I better have a talk with Ash myself, then._

Henry got to his feet again and asked, "You ready to try again?"

Will nodded, somewhat hesitantly, and still not looking completely focused on Henry's aikido lesson.

As it turned out, though, Henry was just as distracted as Will after their little talk. After only about fifteen minutes of halfhearted sparring, they decided to just call it quits for the day.


	12. Discussions

_**Discussions **_

_And I thought it was hard to go see him in his office._ Ashley had been standing in front of Will's door for twelve minutes already_. Just knock already._

_But what am I gonna say?_

_The truth, duh._

_But it'll screw everything up again. It'll make it worse. It'll make him uncomfortable with me, too._

_It's already doing that. If he brought it up with Henry, it's already bothering him._

_So it can't get any worse._ Ashley raised her hand for the fourth or fifth time to knock on Will's door...

And nearly hit him when the door suddenly opened from the inside. Will jerked back to avoid running into her.

"Ashley? Did you need me for something?"

Ashley's mouth opened soundlessly as her brain completely short-circuited. Which was not a terrible thing, because everything she'd been steeling herself to say flew right out the window as her mind answered Will's question:_ Yes, I need you for something. I need you for a lot of things. I need you to make me laugh. I need you to make me feel better when I'm depressed. I need you to hold me when I'm crying and make me feel safe again. I need your smile to make me want to get up in the morning. I need you to have conversations that don't involve science or electronics. I need you to help me think things through. I need you to cover my back and to help me figure stuff out. I need you..._

_I need you..._

"Uh, I just needed to talk to you. But if you're busy, we could talk later."

Ashley had her hands pressed up to Sally's tank and a deep blush on her face when Will located her again that afternoon.

"This a bad time? I could come back later."

"What? No, Sally and I were just having a little girl-talk."

Will lifted an eyebrow as he contemplated the redness of her face. "You sure I'm not interrupting?"

"Nope, just give me a minute."

Putting her hands back against the tank, Ashley focused her thoughts again to speak to the mermaid. _Gotta go now, time to bite the bullet. I'll come back later and maybe we can discuss some more Will-fantasies._

_Come back when you can tell me about the real thing. _ Sally answered.

Ashley giggled. _Like that's gonna happen. More likely he'll want Mom to send him on a trip by himself so's he can escape me. Bye now._

Will's brows were climbing higher. _Since when does Ashley giggle about anything? And the look on her and Sally's faces when I came in..._

"Is it okay if we go somewhere a little more private to talk?"

"Sure." _Why does she need to talk to me in private? Getting a little nervous here._ "Did you have anywhere special in mind?"

"Um." Ashley licked her lips. "The garden okay?"

"Yeah." They fell into silence as they walked through the hallways, but unlike the last time that they had the hallway to themselves, this silence was highly uncomfortable for both of them. Ashley started flexing her fingers, keeping her hands by her sides in the hope that it would be less obvious to Will. Will was fighting the urge to fidget and in the end decided to make inane small talk about the weather, the last mission- anything he could think of- in order to break the silence.

"So, looks like it's gonna rain tonight."

Ashley was so tense she only barely restrained the urge to turn and hit something when the sound of Will's voice suddenly broke the silence. _Huh? What'd he say? Something about the weather._ "Uh, yeah." Ashley wasn't really sure what her noncommittal reply was supposed to be answering, but she figured it didn't really matter that much anyway.

Will tried again. "So how was that last mission? You and Henry were only gone two days."

"S'fine. Pretty boring, actually. Just the normal: Mom hears about an abnormal, we go meet the abnormal, abnormal is not dangerous and is expending ninety percent of their energy trying to fit in with everyone else. We exchange contact info and then say goodbye."

They sank back into silence as Will tried to think of something else to talk about.

Finally, they reached the door to the garden and Will stepped through, then held it open for Ashley. She murmured a quiet thanks and then led the way to a bench beneath one of the oaks. When Will joined her, she took his hands.

"Will, I know I've been acting weird for the last week or so, and I think you deserve to know why." Ashley swallowed hard and looked down at her hands before meeting his eyes again. She licked her lips in nervousness. Will opened his mouth, and Ashley knew she just had to spit it out before he started talking. "I wanna date you."

_Of all the things that she could've said, that did not even cross my mind. She wants to date me?_ Will's mouth was literally frozen half-open.

_Oh, shit, look at that face. Could he be more deer-in-the-headlights?_

_She wants to date me?_ Will's mouth was still frozen, and his brain was fast approaching the same state.

_Just say something, Will. Anything. Ask me why, ask me what brought this up, ask me if I've gone nuts, just please don't sit there staring at me._

"Why?" Will was still struggling with the first fact, but figured he might understand better if he could get Ashley to explain in a bit more detail.

"There's lots of reasons. You're smart, you make me laugh, you make me think. You can make me feel better when I'm down. You've held me when I was crying and made me feel safe again. Your smile to makes me want to get up in the morning. You cover my back and you help me figure stuff out. You're willing to forgive me whenever I screw up. You're curious and adventurous and yet thoughtful and cute all wrapped up in a single package. And the fact that you're hot isn't exactly a turn-off."

Will wasn't sure how to answer all that. His mind was reeling.

Ashley, meanwhile, was crestfallen by Will's response- or lack thereof. _He doesn't like me. And now we're going to go back to being uncomfortable and awkward around each other again. Great, Ashley, just great._ She got up to leave and was surprised when Will reached out to grab her arm. "Wait." He paused a moment, swallowed, and then asked, "So what did you have in mind?"

"What did I have in mind for what?"

Will's face scrunched up. "For our date. What did you want to do?"

Ashley was sure she hadn't heard him correctly. _Did he just ask me on a date? I thought he wasn't interested. I thought... never mind what I thought, he's waiting for an answer._ "Supper and a movie?"

"Tonight?"

_I don't think Mom has me doing anything tonight. Don't have plans with Henry or the big guy._ "Sure. Meet you in the garage about 6:30?"

"I'll be there."

_Holy crap, what just happened here?_ wondered Will as Ashley walked away.


	13. First Date

_**First Date**_

As he looked over at Ashley walking out of the McDonalds, Will couldn't help but think this was easily one of the weirdest dates he'd ever had. _ I ask her where she wants to go to eat and she says McDonalds? If she keeps pulling surprises out of her hat like this, she's gonna end up giving me a heart attack before the end of the night. I wonder what kind of movie she's going to want to see? Probably an action flick, knowing Ashley. Although I guess if she's going continue surprising me, she'll probably choose..._

"Thanks, Will."

"For what? Supper at McDonalds?" Will teased, since he didn't feel like he'd done anything worth complimenting.

"Yeah." The heartfelt tone of her voice made Will look over at her.

"A lot of guys would have teased me over going to McDonalds for a date. Made a big deal out of it, like it was really juvenile or I was really stupid or something. But the truth of the matter is, I like the food there and I don't get to eat it very often because Mom doesn't approve of fast food. Half the time, if I want a burger and fries, I have to practically sneak out to get it.

"And I really appreciate the fact that you didn't lecture me about trans-fats like Mom or rag on me about eating 'kid food'. I mean, I didn't really expect you to, but it's still really nice." Ashley shrugged before continuing.

"I guess it's just one of those things that I really like about you, Will. You're so non-judgmental. I could probably ask you about seeing a cartoon tonight, and you wouldn't tease me at all."

"Maybe just a little..."

"Well, don't worry, I'm not going to suggest a cartoon."

"So what do you want to see? The new Twilight movie?" Will teased.

"Oh, puh-lease, no! Give me a break, Will!" Ashley rolled her eyes. "One, those movies are ridiculous." She put on a baby voice: "Oooh, look at me, I'm a pretty-sparkly vampire who only kills animals and takes off his shirt. And I like high school so much I just keep repeating it over and over." Another eye-roll before she spoke again in her normal voice. "We both know vampires are nothing like that. And then there are all those asinine teeny-boppers who ooh and aah and shriek through the whole thing. Definitely a turnoff. And then, reason number three: I deal with abnormals all day. It's my job. So when I'm relaxing, I like to keep things as _normal_ as possible. So no vampire movies, no matter how badly Hollywood has screwed up their facts."

Will's sigh and grin made Ashley wonder what he was thinking. "What?" she snapped.

Will's grin got even wider. "I couldn't agree more. With all of that. So, what would you like to see?"

"I was thinking either 2012 or Pirate Radio. Either of those sound good to you?"

As they drove the rest of the way to the theater, they discussed the relative merits of each film. They ended up watching Pirate Radio that night and 2012 two nights later- on their next date.


	14. Unexpected News

_**AN:**_

_**So, just for reference, this takes place approximately one week after the previous chapter.**_

_**Oh, and friendly warning: this a very long chapter.**_

_**Unexpected News**_

Will answered his phone while walking down the hallway. "Yeah, this is Will." 

Magnus asked, "Will, did you remember that I asked you and Ashley to pick up that abnormal at the docks today? It's almost ten."

"Yeah, I remembered, but apparently Ashley forgot. I didn't see her at breakfast this morning- although, that's not really all that unusual, I guess- but she's also not answering her phone, so I was just going by her room to see if she's there."

"Oh, well, alright. But if she isn't, just take Henry along with you. This isn't exactly dangerous, but we do need to meet the ship and the captain stressed that he wants us to be prompt in our pickup."

"Okay. Talk to you more later." Will rounded the corner to stand in front of Ashley's room.

"Yes, call me back in a few minutes to tell me who's going with you."

Will hung up and knocked on the door. "Ashley?" When there was no answer, Will cracked the door and peeked in.

"Ash? You okay?"

Ashley was sitting in her desk chair, staring into space. When she again failed to answer him, Will came all the way into the room. As he approached Ashley, he noticed she was still wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing the night before and had something clutched in one hand. Getting on one knee in front of her, he gently touched her face. "Ash?"

Ashley shuddered as he touched her face, then focused on Will. "Will?" Her voice wavered slightly.

"What's going on, Ashley?"

"Huh?" Ashley looked confused.

"Ash, you're sitting here, staring off into space, ignoring your cell and not paying attention to people talking to you, and still wearing the same clothes you had on last night. So, what's going on?"

A tear started down Ashley's cheek as she opened her mouth. But only a muted choking sound came out.

"Ash?" Will's voice, if possible, had gotten even more gentle. Suddenly, Ashley leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as the tears streamed down her face. Putting his arms around her as he stood, Will murmured soothingly into her ear. When Ashley started to hiccup occasionally against his chest, Will alternated between patting her back gently and rubbing it gently in circles.

When it looked like the tears were finally beginning to dry up, Will asked, "Ash, what's the matter?"

She remained mute, but leaned even closer against him, if that was possible.

Will gently pushed her hair back and wiped a few tears off of her cheek with his thumb. "Ash?"

Her eyes closed and she lowered her head against his chest before whispering, "Is there anything that could make you hate me?"

"What? No!" _Where in the hell did that come from? And what on earth has got her so upset, so worried?_ Will couldn't have been more shocked if she'd hit him. _Actually, hitting me might almost seem more normal. She's play-punched my shoulder often enough._

"Good."Ashley sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Will was contemplating the fact that Ashley was unwilling to let go of him and didn't even seem to be noticing the phone ringing in his pocket. She noticed when he started to move his arm- but only went so far as to move it back and plead, "Hold me." The phone itself was ignored.

_It's probably Magnus. I really should answer it. But Ash is so messed up right now..._

_But if I don't answer, Magnus'll get mad. And she'll probably just come looking for me._

"Ash..."

'Hmm?" She seemed to be staring at something several yards away, despite the fact that the only thing in her line of sight was his shirt a few inches in front of her face.

"I really ought to get that."

"Hmm."

"So I need you to let go a second."

"Hmm." The murmur sounded vaguely affirmative, but Ashley didn't move.

"Ash?" Will gazed at her with all the intensity of a hunting falcon. _Man, she looks beat. I wonder..._ "Did you sleep at all last night?"

The phone stopped ringing.

Ashley didn't answer, and when Will repeated the question he could swear that her eyes were slowly falling closed. So he slid an arm behind her knees and picked her up. By the time he had her tucked into the bed, her eyes were already completely closed. As he turned out the light, he thought he heard her murmur something, but he decided to ignore that and just shut the door behind him before calling Magnus.

"Will, where were you? I called you just a few minutes ago and you didn't answer."

"I was with Ashley. Something strange is going on, Magnus, she was just sitting in her room, nearly catatonic. She was wearing the same clothes as yesterday and looked like she hadn't slept. She was barely aware of me talking to her. I put her to bed, but you might want to check on her later.

"So," continued Will, "I'll be taking Henry along and we'll be leaving as soon as I get in touch with him."

"Actually, he's probably waiting for you in the garage by now," answered Magnus dryly. "I called him when you didn't answer and asked him to head down there in case he and I needed to fill in for the two of you." She paused. "How bad a shape was Ashley in?"

"Looked like a pretty bad mental state, but just fine physically. She might be doing better after some sleep."

"So maybe _you_ should look in on her again later."

"I was planning on it. Call you when we're back so you can help us unload the new abnormal."

As Will and Henry arrived at the pier, they were surprised to find that the ship they were meeting seemed to be attracting quite a few people. The closer they got, the harder it became to drive through the milling crowd. A pair of men in dungarees and white tee shirts stood at the bottom of the gangway, holding back all the others, who were trying to swarm aboard the ship.

When they could drive no closer and the horn ceased to get people to move out of the way, they parked the truck and got out. Will and Henry spent several minutes trying to push their way through the crowd. A few times, the people that Henry pushed out of the way seemed to move just a little further than Will thought a normal shove was capable of pushing them, and Will wondered, _Is Henry was tapping into his werewolf strength? And is he doing it consciously or unconsciously? I'll have to remember to ask him later. He's definitely got more control than he thinks, if he can hurl burly dock-workers out of the way without changing._

When they reached the pair at the bottom of the gangway, one of them snarled, "Nobody gets on this ship!"

Will came closer and spoke relatively quietly. "We're from the Sanctuary and we were asked to meet the ship. We're just here to pick up our cargo."

The man sighed in relief. "Go ahead." He moved only very slightly, so that Will had to squeeze between him and the other man to pass. As soon as Will was through, the men again blocked the gangplank., crossing their arms across their chests.

"I'm with him," said Henry impatiently.

The guard raised an eyebrow.

"He is," said Will from behind the man's back.

The man turned to look at him, the unspoken question in his eyes: _Anyone else we should let pass?_

Several of the nearby men, who had picked up on part of the conversation, groaned or muttered when Will added, "And only him." They'd obviously intended to try to gain access to the ship by claiming to be part of the Sanctuary group as well.

As they made their way up the gangplank, Will commented over his shoulder, "I wonder what's got them all so riled up. Did you see that mob? It was like there was a movie star on board or something."

"I dunno know about a movie star, but man, something around here sure smells good."

Will stopped for a second before once again climbing higher. "Smells good?" He sniffed loudly. "All I smell is dead fish and the sea."

"What! You don't smell that? It's really nice, and it seems to be getting stronger nearer the ship. Not-quite vanilla-y, vaguely flowery... it's a good smell."

"You sure? There's nothing around here to smell flowery." Will considered a moment. "But I'll bow to your superior olfactory senses."

"My what?"

"Your keen sense of smell."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

"I did."

"Well, I guess most people wouldn't smell the nice stuff under everything else. There's the fish, the sea, sweat, rust, paint, coupla different kinds of wood, at least a dozen colognes and deodorants and shampoo scents, dirty clothes, tarps, some kind of cleaning stuff that smells vaguely like vinegar, ropes, gas, and manure to smell."

"All that? Really?"

"Dude, that's without even _trying_."

Will took two more steps, then asked, "Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"We're not picking up more nubbins, are we?"

"We better not be." Henry was taken off guard by the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Because... well, I feel... I feel like there are pheromones in the air."

"Not likely," Henry teased. "Those stinking things make me sneeze all over the place. Not sneezing, so we're safe."

Will reached the deck and started looking for the captain. As Henry came to stand next to him, they were approached by a slim young man. "Are you from the Sanctuary?"

"Yes," answered Will and Henry in unison.

"Come with me, please. The captain is waiting for you."

Henry and Will followed him down several decks and around several turns. Finally, he stopped, knocked on a door, and announced through the door, "The men from the Sanctuary are here, sir."

A gruff voice answered, "Send them in."

Will and Henry entered the room, which appeared to be the captain's office by the furnishings. They were surprised to see that in addition to the stocky middle-aged man behind the desk, there was a woman standing in a corner of in the room. A beautiful blond, whose long gray coat hung open in the front, allowing them both to notice she had a very nice figure.

"You're late," the captain growled as he stood up. "There's already a crowd out there."

"We noticed." Henry's droll sarcasm was not lost on the captain, who shot him a look.

"So how are you planning to pick up your -ahem- cargo?"

"We brought a flatbed truck. Magnus said to just hoist the container with our cargo onto the truck."

The captain raised an eyebrow. "And Miss Galswinthe?"

"Miss Galswinthe?" Will's confused tone was mirrored in Henry's expression.

The eyebrow climbed higher. The captain glanced at the woman. "You didn't know that your cargo was accompanied?"

"No." Realizing the situation, Will turned to the woman. "I'm sorry, we weren't expecting you. You're welcome to ride back with us in the truck, but it would be a rather tight squeeze. Or, we could take the cargo and come back for you in a bit, or..."

"Forgive my interrupting you," the lady broke in, "but I think that it might be best if I simply ride with Dietrun and Selda. Um, our cargo."

Immediately Will and Henry began to protest, but the woman cut them off again with a graceful wave of her hand. "You're very kind, but you see- the crowd down below- it is on account of me. I came on deck when we docked, hoping to be able to find you immediately and leave the ship unnoticed, but I only succeeded in drawing everyone's attention. Now I fear the only way I will get off the ship is by going in the container, where I can remain unseen."

Will shook his head. It was like an argument was raging inside of his head, and none of the voices- there were at least three- was making much sense. _Just do as she asks_, soothed one voice.

_No, there's no reason for her to be in the container like some sort of animal. That crowd on the docks would let us through, and if they didn't, Henry and I ought to be able to get her through to the truck with a modicum of fuss._

_But she's so pretty..._

_That has nothing to do with it!_

_Just do what she wants, and all will be well._

_But, but, but... then I won't be able to see her, hear her, take care of her..._

_So?_

_Just do as she asks..._

_But what if it's not safe?_

_You don't even know what kind of abnormal you're picking up!_

Will shook his head again. "I apologize, I seem to be having trouble concentrating today. But..."

A tinkling laugh interrupted him. "Actually, you seem to be doing quite a good job of it." Another laugh. "Better than your friend, anyway."

Will looked at Henry and was surprised to find the werewolf gazing at the woman with a look of pure adoration on his face. His mouth was partially open and Will was willing to bet that Henry was only a step away from outright drooling. So Will tried to discretely stomp on his foot to jog him out of it. At the same time, he turned back to the woman and asked, "Are you sure that would be safe?"

The woman laughed again. "Absolutely. Shall we go?"

Will's hesitance must have shown on his face.

The lady laughed again. "I like you..." she stated, before trailing off, then reopening her mouth to ask his name, but Will anticipated her question.

"Where are my manners? I'm Dr. Zimmerman, uh, Will, and this is Henry Foss."

"Will." Miss Galswinthe finished her earlier sentence. "And you may call me Annabelle. Now, shall we go settle Dietrun and Selda for the unloading?"

Will could see that arguing wasn't going to be any use against this lady. Not only did she have a way of stating her suggestions as a _fait accompli_, Will found himself almost lightheaded when he tried to deny her._ How much you want to bet she's an abnormal, too? Just one that's capable of passing as human._

He followed her on deck to a container that appeared perfectly normal- until they went around to the other side and he noticed that there was a keypad lock on the door. Annabelle keyed in a code and then pulled one side of the door open partway. She stepped halfway through, then beckoned to Will. He followed her through, noticing that the door shut behind him automatically. Then he walked around the inner wall...

And found himself face to face with a unicorn. The unicorn appeared a dappled green at first, but then Will saw that Annabelle also looked green. Looking up, he noticed that the top of the shipping container was semi-translucent and painted to look like tree foliage. In fact, now that he was no longer focused on the unicorn, the walls were painted to look like a forest as well.

He stepped forward quietly, reaching his hand out in front of the unicorn, hoping that it was like a horse. _Horses are usually calmer around a new person if they get to snuffle your hand first._ _It does look sort-of like one, although not as much as like a horse as it's often depicted in art. I don't think it's white, either- more like a light gray. _The unicorn's checked out Will's hand, then nuzzled it. _I wonder if I could pet him? her?_ Will realized he was unsure of the unicorn's gender as he gently rubbed its face.

Looking away from the unicorn again, Will noticed that Annabelle had moved to the other end of the container and was kneeling next to- another one? After a few moments, Annabelle stood and came back towards him. She stroked the unicorn's neck, saying, "You seem to be getting along with Dietrun rather well. He wouldn't allow anyone else near him in Germany except my brother, who had to bribe him with an apple the first time." She smiled. "But, I really should get him to lie down and then sit myself before they move the container."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sure." Will had completely forgotten the plan. "I guess I should go, then."

A smile was his only response. He patted the unicorn's face once more and walked out of the container. As he shut the door behind himself, a grinning Henry called to him, "Well?"

Looking around, Will saw that Henry was perched in the doorway of a crane cab, where he'd been pointing out their truck to the operator. Realizing that Henry was inquiring if the abnormals were ready for transport, Will yelled back, "Why don't I go back down by the truck first?"

Henry flashed him an okay sign with his fingers.

Nearly two hours later, they arrived back at the Sanctuary. Magnus met them at the loading dock in the garage. As Will swung down out of the truck cab and then climbed the stairs energetically, Magnus asked him, "So what kind of abnormal is it? My German contact refused to specify; he said I wouldn't believe him if he told me."

Will grinned. "How about I show you? Did you bring the apples?"

"Yes, I brought the apples, as you requested." Helen gave him a rather sharp look. "Although I still don't understand why that was necessary. And why all the secretism? Henry said you'd been in the crate, but you wouldn't tell him what kind of creature it was." Helen's look turned into a disapproving frown. "He also said that a young woman accompanied the abnormal and chose to ride in the container, and you allowed her to do so."

"Yes, Annabelle chose to ride in the container. Since she was in no danger, I let her. And the apples are for the new abnormals."

As Will came to stand in front of the doors in the back of the shipping container, however, he suddenly frowned and swore under his breath.

"Did you forget the code?"

"Actually, I forgot to ask for it."

Magnus muttered something about forgetful protégés and trouble. Will simply raised his fist and knocked rather loudly on the back of the container, then yelled, "Annabelle, open the door, please!"

A few moments later, the door opened from the inside. Willed took hold of it and blocked it open as Annabelle blocked the other one. When she stood, she looked at Will rather pointedly.

"Annabelle, this is Dr. Helen Magnus, the head of the Sanctuary network. Magnus, this is Annabelle Galswithe."

"Hello, Miss Galswithe. Welcome to the Sanctuary." The two women shook hands.

Annabelle responded with a "Hello" of her own before laughing as she noticed the sack Magnus held. "I see you come prepared." As she turned to lead the way into the container, she called, "Why don't you come on in and meet Dietrun and Selda?"

Will had already fallen in step behind her as Magnus asked, "Who are Dietrun and Selda?" There was no need to answer her question, though, as she suddenly gasped when she passed the interior wall and saw the unicorns. Will walked past her, grabbing an apple on his way, and stepped over to the closer unicorn. He offered it the apple and smiled back at Magnus's gaping face as the unicorn started to crunch it up in his hand.

"They're quite remarkable, aren't they?" said Annabelle from where she was next to Selda.

"Oh, yes, quite." Magnus breathed, now looking at them with an appraising gleam in her eyes. "I am quite surprised; I'd written unicorns off as a myth, especially after that deer with the single antler on its forehead was found last year and determined to be just a disfigured deer, rather than a new species." She approached the unicorn near Will and they were both surprised when it backed away from her and then attempted to hide behind Will.

"What?" Magnus stopped approaching, her hand still slightly out in front of her as the animal retreated.

Annabelle had come over to where they were clustered, the other unicorn following a few feet behind her. "They're very timid. I was actually surprised myself earlier today when Dietrun took to Will so easily. Try bribing Dietrun with another apple; he's quite fond of them."

Magnus took another apple from the sack she held and lifted her hand closer to the unicorn behind Will. It took a step backwards, but then sniffed the air quite perceptibly. But even though its nostrils widened and mouth opened slightly, the unicorn remained behind Will.

Annabelle came over, petted Dietrun, and whispered in his ear, but he was still unwilling to come near Magnus.

Magnus's shoulders slumped as she realized the other unicorn had retreated to the other side of the container. "I hope over time they'll become acclimated to my presence. They really do look to be a fascinating breed. I'm not even sure that they're true equines; they may be more closely related to brontotheriidae. They're a good two hands shorter than most horses. And just look at those hooves: cloven in the front and singular in the back! Remarkable! And their faces seem somewhat slimmer than most equines as well. And then there's the horn: this fellow has a horn at least a foot long, probably closer to sixteen inches, but that one has no horn at all- no, wait- well, is that a horn or just a lump?"

Annabelle seemed quite pleased with Magnus's observations and decided to jump in at that point. "I'm not sure if it's really a horn or not, but Selda does have a small lump of bone on her forehead in about the same place as Dietrun's horn. I think my money would be on sexual dimorphism, like you see in deer. And it may be that they will get used to you with time, but I would like to stay, at least for a few days, to get them settled in, if that's alright with you."

"Alright? I would appreciate the help. If you don't mind my asking, how were you planning to get them out of the container? I would hate to have to sedate them just because they are shy."

"Well, I got them into the container just by talking to them when no one else was around. Perhaps if you could tell Will where you would like them housed, he could lead the way. I think if they didn't see anyone but Will and I, they could be persuaded to follow me again."

Helen had cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at this particular explanation. "They follow you when you tell them to? You must have some special qualities of your own."

"Does she ever." Henry's smitten voice, coming from where he'd been standing unnoticed in the doorway, startled everyone. Dietrun ran (_or was cantered a better word?_) to the extreme back of the container, where Selda was huddled against the wall.

Annabelle laughed. "Yes, indeed. I'm a siren; between my voice and my pheremones, most males have a hard time refusing me anything. Although I must admit, Will here seems less ruled by his glands than most."

Magnus stifled the glare she felt like giving the other woman on Ashley's behalf. Her tone of voice had made it clear to Magnus that she found that trait very,_ very_ attractive. _At least Will's not preening or anything. Besides, she just got here. She probably doesn't realize he's already dating someone._

"Huh?" The word pheromones seemed to catch Henry's attention. He straightened up, looked at the floor, flushed a brilliant shade of magenta, and then looked up at Annabelle shame-facedly. "Hope I haven't been making too much of a fool of myself. I'll just, uh, go... uh, start..." he turned to leave without actually finishing the sentence.

Just as Magnus started to tell Will which enclosure to put the unicorns in, Henry popped his head back around the door and said cheekily, "At least you were wrong about the nubbins." which prompted chuckling from Will.

"Nubbins?" asked Annabelle.

"Another species of abnormal, which also exude strong pheromones." After Magnus explained, Annabelle turned to look at Will as well.

Will finished laughing and offered his own explanation, "When we got to the ship earlier, I asked Henry if we were going to pick up some more of them, because I thought I could feel a difference."

Annabelle cocked her head and offered Will an appraising look. "Before you met me?"

"Yes."

"Well, I must say, I'm impressed. I was beginning to wonder if you were immune to my pheromones because you've kept your head so well, but if you noticed them even before you met me, that's obviously not the case. And usually the ones that notice are the ones more sensitive to it, so they're more strongly affected."

"Poor Henry," said Will.

"Yes, w..." Annabelle had begun to answer before the remark completely registered. "Why poor Henry?"

"I'm guessing your pheromones were that- how did he put it?- 'good, vanilla-y, flowery smell' that he noticed as we were boarding the ship. I couldn't smell it then, but I noticed the difference in how I felt. So I was probably a little more on my guard."

_On his guard?_ Annabelle felt a little hurt at the thought that Will thought he needed to guard himself from her, even though she understood intellectually why it was necessary.

When Annabelle fell silent after Will's comment, Magnus proceeded to tell him where she wanted the unicorns. After she left, Will and Annabelle were able to lure the unicorns to their new habitat fairly easily. The fact that Will stayed only long enough to show her how to work the keypad on the door was not lost on Annabelle, either.

Will knocked gently on Ashley's door a few hours later. Ashley had been asleep still when he checked on her earlier, but when she had missed supper, Will decided he'd take her some and wake her up.

Which it was somewhat surprising to him that when he knocked on her door, he actually got an answer. A rather grumpy-sounding "G'way," but a response all the same.

He cracked the door. "Not going away just yet, Ashley. I brought you some supper. And" _We need to talk._ "I want to see how you're doing."

"Okay, come on in then."

Will pushed the door the rest of the way open and came in, shutting the door with his foot. He brought the tray over to her bedside table and set it down. _She still looks awful. Her eyes are all red-rimmed and puffy like she's been crying, and she doesn't really look all that rested. Not to mention she's curled up in bed still like she hasn't moved all day, but fidgety with her fingers. She looks tired, restless, anxious, scared, and more than a little sad. Maybe even lapsing into depression. What could have possibly brought this on? So quickly?_

Ashley failed to notice Will studying her as she scootched further up against her headboard and then moved the tray to her lap. She opened her mouth to thank Will, but what came out instead was, "Did you mean it? This morning?"

It took Will a minute to realize she was talking about his "No" when she had asked if there anything that could make him hate her. Then he answered, "Yes, Ashley, I absolutely meant it. I can't think of anything that would make me hate you. You're my friend. And my girlfriend." Sensing that she needed all the reassurance he could give, he continued. "The things you do, Ash- they don't make me hate you. They astonish me, impress me, make me laugh, make me think, make me smile, make me miss you when we're not together. The last thing that your actions would do is make me hate you."

By the time Will finished talking, Ashley had tears in her eyes again.

"Hey, don't cry." Will leaned forward and cupped her cheek in his hand, using a thumb to wipe away the single tear that had started to run down her face. "It's gonna be alright."

"You might not think so later." Ashley answered.

"Why?" Will's tone of voice was gentle, but inside he was starting to get worried himself. Ashley obviously thought she'd done something terrible that was going to destroy their relationship. Will couldn't imagine what that might be- he couldn't even think of anything she'd done that had so much as annoyed him- but the degree of her worry was starting to worry him. _I wish she'd stop fidgeting with the blanket and just tell me what's on her mind._

"I'm pregnant."

Will was so shocked, he was not only speechless; he stopped thinking. It was like all of the thoughts that were normally running around in his head vying for his attention suddenly just stopped, disappeared.

Ashley gulped. _Now for the worst part._ "It's yours."

If the last sentence had stopped Will's brain, that one restarted it with all the finesse of a debrillator. His eyes nearly popped right out of his skull. Then the words started so pouring out of Will so quickly they became little more than gibberish: "What the hell? No way. That couldn't... Ash, we've never.. we haven't even slept together yet. And even if we had, it's too soon- you couldn't possibly know... there's just... unless... Oh, my God. Not the... in the tunnels? The nubbins? No, no... I mean, I asked... you said don't worry... on the pill... but then... How sure are you? False positives..."

Ashley shushed Will and placed her fingers over his mouth to shut him up. "Will... just give me a minute, and then" She took a deep breath. "Just let me tell you everything and then you can say anything you want." She looked down at her hands and took another deep breath.

"It is because of what happened in the tunnels." Ashley was still looking at her hands; it was too much effort to meet Will's eyes while divulging all of this. "I _was_ on the pill- still was, up until yesterday... or was it the day before?... So, yeah, I thought we were safe on that count, too. Even last month, when I didn't get my period, I figured I just lost it because of stress or something, you know? That's one of the reasons I was on the pill in the first place, is that my periods were so screwed up from stress and messed-up circadian rhythms from keeping such a weird schedule and work interfering and everything... Anyhow, I figured that last month I had enough stress and stuff to account for losing it, you know? But then, I should have started last week... and I didn't. And when I went the whole week with no period, that's when I first started to suspect. So then I started doing research." She flipped back the covers on her bed to display several books; then she gestured to a stack of books on her desk and another stack on the floor next to her lounge chair. "The pill's got a failure rate somewhere between half a percent and eight percent on its own, and one of the nubbin books seems to indicate that the little buggers increase fertility. So the risk might have been even higher. And then I realized I had some of the first body changes and I just hadn't really noticed until the books pointed them out. So I got a pregnancy test from the drugstore, and I took it, and it's positive.

"And I know you probably want me to have Mom make sure, and I will, but I'm pretty sure already and I just thought that I should tell you first. Especially after... well, considering as how I didn't tell you what happened, in the tunnels I mean, I figured that was the least I could do. And I know that you kinda just wanted to forget that that ever happened, and I thought that would be great, but now... it's just not gonna work, Will..." Ashley started to cry, but continued speaking through her tears.

"'Cause I'm having this baby. I will not even consider killing it. Even if that ruins everything between us." She was sobbing now, and Will moved to where he was sitting next to her and could put his arm around her. "I just couldn't kill this poor baby just because of the damn nubbins and all. I mean, I decided a long time ago that everything, every creature, no matter how hideous or dangerous, deserved a shot at life. The only reason killing is ever justified is if the creature is a killer or something, and there's no way to contain it. So I can't even think about not giving my baby that same shot." Ashley hiccupped. "But if you're still willing to be my boyfriend after all this drama," another hiccup, "and you really don't want the baby around as a reminder of what happened in the tunnels, I might be willing to consider giving the baby up for adoption..." Ashley trailed off uncertainly, still not looking Will in the eye.

Until, of course, he reached up and cupped her cheek again and gently lifted her face. He was still processing everything she'd said, but he also wanted to make her feel a bit better. So he started with, "Thanks. Thanks for telling me, Ash. I know that must have been very hard to tell me. Especially if you were worried that you were going to chase me away or something.

"'Cause I'm not gonna lie to you, you've given me a whole lot to think about. And this will change things between us. But, Ash- listen to me, Ash- friends don't run away when their friends are in trouble. And we are friends, Ash. Maybe we were dating, too, but first you were my friend, and even if that's all you were to me, you couldn't make me run with this. Because you need me, and I'm gonna be there for you." Will stroked Ashley's hair as he continued.

"And I do think that we should have Magnus check you out, too. Before we start talking about any major decisions, okay? Let's just first make sure that this is happening." Will sighed. _I am so not ready for this._

"Okay."

Ashley cuddled into his shoulder and seemed to relax just because he was willing to let her snuggle. They sat in silence for quite a while, Ashley cuddling Will and Will stroking her hair, until Will looked down and saw that Ashley seemed to be asleep. But when he started to get up, she grabbed onto him and pled, "Don't leave. Please. Not until I fall asleep, at least."

_Now how can I say no to that look?_ "Alright, but if you're going back to sleep, you should lay down, else you'll end up sore."

Ashley frowned as she helped Will pick up the books scattered in her bed. Then whispering so quietly he barely heard her, she said, "But I wanted you to hold me," as she scootched back down and rolled on her side.

Will covered her up, walked around the bed, then laid down on top of the covers, and wrapped his arms around Ashley from behind. "This okay?"

Ashley sighed and leaned back against him, then covered his arm with one of her own. "Wonderful."


	15. After the Night

_**After the Night**_

It was early in the morning when Ashley awoke. At first she was unnerved to be waking up wrapped up in someone's arms-- she wasn't usually much of a cuddler, and there had _never_ been a guy in _her_ bed before. If for no other reason than she'd never felt comfortable taking a guy home to the Sanctuary.

Just before she began to dismember the person behind her, she realized who it was. _Will. _She smiled broadly at the realization that he was still there. _And the light's still on. How ridiculous._

Then she realized why she was awake at-- the clock said 3:42-- in the morning. She had to pee. Bad. So she rolled out from under Will's arm, went to the bathroom, and then decided to take a shower. She was drying her hair with a towel when she heard noises from her bedroom. She opened the door and was surprised to see Will rolling around on her bed, grunting and making strange yelping noises.

As she approached the bed, Ashley realized Will was having a nightmare. She reached out to shake his shoulder and wake him, but he pushed back at her before rolling over and kicking at something that wasn't there. Then he screamed full volume, "NO!" and began struggling against nothing again. After a few more tries at shaking him and speaking to him loudly, Ashley slapped him soundly across the face. That woke him up. He still looked disoriented, even though he was no longer thrashing or making noise.

"Wha--?"

"It's okay, Will. it was just a nightmare."

"Where am I?"

Ashley couldn't help a little chuckle at that question. "My room."

"Uhhn." Will lifted a head and rubbed his forehead, then the back of his neck. "Sorry if I woke you." A thought occurred and Will sat up suddenly. "I didn't hit you, did I?"

"No. I heard you after I got out of the shower." Ashley smiled when Will's eyes traveled downward from her face to the her robe. _He didn't notice! That's worth a mental happy dance. And I can't wait to tell Henry. Or maybe not. But I have ammo for teasing for a _long _time now._

Ashley's mental gloating was interrupted by a cry from Will as he grabbed his calf.

"What? What's the matter?"

Will grimaced. "Cramp. Unh. I swear, every time this happens, every single muscle in my body either ends up aching or cramping." The lines on his forehead tightened and he rubbed the back of his calf.

"Here, let me." Ashley grabbed his calf, pushed his hand away and started to rub it herself. Will leaned backwards and tried to stretch his shoulders, which caused an audible crack and another groan. His leg also jerked and then he flopped backwards on the bed. Ashley continued rubbing. After a minute, she suggested, "You know, this'd be easier without your jeans."

Will popped back up so quickly, he nearly headbutted Ashley. "What'd you say?"

"I said, this'd be easier without your jeans."

Will stared. "Are you coming on to me?"

"Just being practical. And if more than just your calf is hurting, I could give you a massage."

_Oh, that would feel soooo good. Which might end up being a bad thing. She's only wearing a robe and talking about taking off my clothes.... We have enough problems without jumping into sex after only a week of dating._

"Come on, at least roll over and make this easier on me."

Will did as she asked and couldn't help feeling- well, spoiled- by the deep massage his legs were getting. As his calf loosened, he sighed in contentment. Which was followed by a stifled gasp as Ashley started massaging his thighs. A couple minutes later, she straddled them and slid her fingers under his tee shirt, pushing it upwards and over his head. Will was just about to open his mouth to protest when she put the heel of her hand into his spine between his shoulder blades. It felt heavenly, so he groaned instead.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding when you said every muscle tightens up. Dang, Will." She worked the rhomboids and trapezius muscles before moving her hands to focus on the back of his neck. "Does this happen often?"

"The nightmares? It used to be every time I'd go to sleep for more than a couple hours. It's been getting better, though, since I started working at the Sanctuary. I'm sleeping more, too, even when I don't take anything. It's down to three or four times a month, I think."

_Three or four times a month?_ "Good Lord, how do you put up with it? _And how is it I didn't know about this?_

"Well, I rub the sore muscles, take a long hot shower, and then go do something, because going back to sleep is out of the question."

"Mmmm. The hot water feels good, eh? Do you ever take a bath and just soak?"

Will purred under Ashley's hands before answering. "That'd be a little difficult in my shower stall."

"Well then, today you should use my tub."

"Not necessary. Your hands are working wonders on my back." He punctuated the statement with a moan of pleasure.

"I insist."

"But I don't even have any clean clothes to put on." Will was making excuses and he knew it.

"So I'll go grab you some while you're in the tub. Not like I won't have time to, if you stay in there and soak."

"Mmm, 'kay." The second after he agreed, Will wished he'd held out a bit longer, because Ashley had gotten up and started toward the bathroom.

"Come on, I don't bite," she called over her shoulder.

Even when he heard the water running, Will wasn't sure that he really wanted to get up off of the bed. He really did feel a lot better already. His muscles were mostly relaxed again instead of being tense enough to cause pain. _And then there is the whole issue of taking off my clothes in Ashley's room. Is that really such a good idea?_

"Come on, Will. If you don't get off my bed in the next ten seconds, I will come over, drag you to the bathroom, and strip you myself." _Ooh, that might actually be fun. Stoppit, Ashley!_

Will groaned and hoisted himself off the bed. "Alright, alright, I'm coming. What's the rush, anyways? It's like oh-dark-thirty."

* * *

Half an hour later, when Ashley knocked on the bathroom door and stated she was going to get Will some clothes and to ask if there was anything in particular he wanted her to grab, her reply was nothing more than a non-committal, "Mmm, whatever."

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Ashley knocked on the bathroom door again. "Got your clothes, Will. 'S'okay if I bring them in?"

There was no answer, so she tried again. "Will?"

Ashley opened the door-- and noticed that Will had his eyes shut and had slid down into the water to the point where it was over his chin.

Ashley's voice took on a note of anxiety. "Will?"

Again there was no response from the man in the tub.

Which is why Ashley sprang across the room in three giant steps, dropping his clothes on the floor without even realizing it in her hurry to grab Will under the arms and haul him upwards while shrieking his name.

Will opened his eyes. _Why on earth is Ashley holding me up? When I'm in the bathtub? Wait, the bathtub... I was in the bathtub, and she went to get some clean clothes..._

"Are you trying to drown yourself? What kind of idiot are you, that you'd fall asleep in my tub!?!"

Will blinked. "Asleep?" _Was I asleep?_ "I just shut my eyes for a minute... I was just relaxing. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Ashley spluttered in disgust and let go of Will. He slipped back down into the tub a few inches. Then she added snarkily, "Well, I can see why Mom doesn't trust you with a tub of your own."

She marched as far as the door and then commanded, "Now you better get outta there and get dressed, because I do not intend to save your ass again this morning. At least not until after breakfast." She looked down at her now-sopping shirt as she pulled the door shut behind her. "And you better tall me before you come out of here, because now I need to change."

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

Sorry this took so long, everybody. Just started a new job and I've been very busy. I'll try to be quicker with the next one, but honestly, I can't promise anything.


	16. Breaking It to Magnus

_**AN:**_

Sorry it took so long to get this posted, everyone. Hopefully nobody gave up on the story yet. But between working 7 days a week and moving, it's been rather hard to find time to write. Getting my life back into some semblance of a routine, now, though, so I'll try to have the next chapter up within the week. Feel free to message me and chew my arse a bit if I fail to follow through on that.

In the meantime, happy reading!

_**Breaking It to Magnus**_

"Mom?"

"Yes, Ashley?" Magnus didn't even look up from her microscope.

"Can you give me a checkup?"

Now that's new. Ashley never asks for a checkup. She usually tries to shrug off lacerations requiring stitches as 'scratches.' A bit of worry started to cloud Magnus's otherwise good morning.

"Certainly, Ashley. May I ask why, though?" Magnus turned from the worktable with a beaker in her hand, sensing the need to look her daughter in the eye. Especially since it looks like she's hiding behind the door.

"Um... I think I'm pregnant."

The beaker shattered on the floor as Magnus gaped. Ashley took the opportunity to let the door swing closed behind her as she fled before the look of outright shock on her mother's face.

It didn't take Magnus long to recover enough to start following her daughter. She caught up to her at the elevator.

"Ashley."

"Yes, Mom?" Ashley was staring at floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Would you care to explain that to me?"

"Um..." stammered Ashley. "Explain what?"

"Ashley! You can not say something like what you just said in my lab and then walk away as if nothing has happened!"

"Well, okay, but, um, I was pretty sure you knew how that kind of thing happened."

"Ashley!" Magnus's voice was no longer quiet as she grabbed her arm and practically drug her into the elevator. "Knowing how it happens in general does not explain to me how it happened to you! Especially when I know, being your doctor, that you are on the pill." Magnus stabbed the button with her finger and glared at her daughter, who still could not face her.

"Were you having unsafe sex? Is that what you're ashamed of?"

"No! Geez, Mom, no, that's not what I'm ashamed of!"

"Were you going to ask me for an abortion? Because I won't do that, Ashley, no matter how much I love you, I will not kill an innocent just for your convenience. Life is sacred, and..."

"Mom! No!" Ashley shrieked, interrupting.

"It's Will's." she whispered.

"What!" Magnus yelped. Then the math caught up. _Wait, for her to know, she'd have to be at least a month along ..._ "The tunnels?" She barely managed to choke the question out through a throat that seemed to be closing rapidly in panic.

Ashley nodded.

The elevator dinged. The doors opened. Ashley was once again staring at her feet as her mother gaped at her.

The doors closed.

"Are you sure?"

"He's the only possibility."

Magnus rubbed her head. _What made me think this was a good morning? I have guests, new abnormals, and now my daughter's pregnant by one of my staff through an incident that I was just beginning to think we had managed to put behind us. Which means that all hell is about to break loose, because God only knows how Will is going to take this news. _

_Will. Shit! He's going to find out soon, too, because I told him he should check on her again after he found her in a bad headspace yesterday, and I'd be willing to bet my entire bank account that this is what put her into that tailspin. I was wondering about depression when I checked her and she was still asleep at three in the afternoon and looked like she'd been crying quite a bit, but this is much, much worse. Because he'll know if she lies and he'll probably push her- gently, perhaps, but he will push for answers- until she tells him. And then what do we do? What will I do if Will can't stand the thought of Ashley having his baby? Or the sight of her? Or to even be involved in all this drama? My word, our life normally makes his work in law enforcement look tame- and this is so far beyond that weirdness..._

_One step at a time, Magnus. First confirm the pregnancy. Then freak out._

"Come on, Ashley. Before I do anything else, we have some bloodwork to run."


	17. Restrictions

_**Restrictions**_

Something was off. Henry knew it as soon as Will walked into the room, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

"Hey, Henry."

"What's up, Will?"

"Wanna play some video games?" _I need to do something brainless and give myself time to figure out what the hell comes next._

Henry's eyebrow twitched. "Now?"

Will shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.

Henry's eyes narrowed. _Not buying it. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was smelling the adrenaline in his system, because I _know_ he's nervous_. "Spill."

"What?"

"You're a nervous wreck." It was not a question. "Now spill."

Will rubbed hand through his hair_. I am not ready to tell anybody about this yet, and Henry should find out from Ashley if comes to it, and I made Ash promise not to do any more worrying until she got Magnus to confirm it... Now, if only I could follow my own advice._ Will sighed. "I can't, Henry." Seeing the kicked-puppy look on his friend's face, Will decided to elaborate. "There's just a situation going on that I'm not entirely sure how to deal with yet, and I need a break before I implode."

_Well, that was the truth, at least. Maybe not all of the truth, but it was the truth. Guess it'll have to be enough for now._ "You wanna invite Ashley to join us?"

Henry was shocked when Will's brow creased. _Wait a sec, I thought they'd worked out all their differences! Didn't they even go on a date last week? What the hell is going on now?_

Then it hit him, with the force of a thousand sledgehammers. _Ashley's bubblebath! He smells like Ashley's lavender frigging bubblebath! _Henry growled low in his throat.

Will looked at Henry askance.

_I better be wrong about what I'm thinking right now_. The message was unspoken, but the glare conveyed the feeling behind it to Will.

_Shit, what the hell did I do to piss Henry off?_

"This -situation- of yours. Does it have anything to do with my sister? Like you taking advantage of her?"

"Ye-What?" Will's eyes widened, his open mouth ready to say yes to the Ashley part when Henry made his not-quite-veiled accusation. "Henry, how could you think that?"

"You smell like her bubble bath." He sniffed. "And her shampoo."

"Because she let me borrow her tub this morning to soak in because my muscles were cramping!" _Please, please let him let it go at that! _

"Oh." Henry looked down. _There's more to it than that, but you're not faking the shock about me suggesting you took advantage of her. If I wasn't sure of that, I'd be beating some answers out of you right now. But whatever this situation is, it has to do with Ashley. And there's more to this story about the tub. Muscles may have been cramping, but I would like to know why, because you're trying to hide something here, Will Zimmerman._

Looking up, he decided to give Will a break for the moment. _Maybe if I get him relaxed, he'll just start talking._ "Well, shall we go play some video games?"

"Yeah," Will shoulders slumped in relief. "And can we agree not to talk about anything serious for at least an hour?"

Taking an appraising look at his friend, Henry noticed for the first time the bags under his eyes and the more-than-usual pallor of his skin. _Whatever was going on, it looked like_ -he checked his watch- _six fifteen? holy crap!- was way too early for Will to be out of bed. And having obviously been awake for some time already, if he'd already had time for cramping muscles, a bubble bath, and then his hair to dry afterwards._

"Shall we grab some brekkers too?"

"Not unless you want the big guy to rip our heads off. I tried to duck in the kitchen for some coffee and toast and barely made it out with my limbs attached." Will tried to grin, but couldn't quite manage it.

Henry would have smiled more at the hyperbole but was left instead to wonder what could be serious enough to kill every spark of possible humor in his easy-going friend.

_meanwhile, in one of the Sanctuary labs_

"So, how long will it take? Before you know for sure?"

"Well, I'm assuming you already took a home pregnancy test."

"Yeah." Ashley wasn't entirely sure where her Mom was going with this.

"Well, some brands are more reliable than others. Some are also fairly easy to misread, or invalid if a control strip is not activated, or if the test has been sitting on the shelf a while. The accuracy is also usually better when done early in the morning. Now, even assuming you did everything for optimal results, it's still possible to get a false positive reading. So, now you're going to take a similar test, one that also detects hCG levels, only this one will give me a readout of how high they are. If the second test also comes back positive, we'll do an ultrasound."

Ashley gulped. "So I'll know today?"

"Inside of an hour."

Another gulp. _Shit, why am I so nervous? It's not like I don't already know._

_But having Mom confirm it would take away all hope that you might be wrong. If it's confirmed, you have to face it._

_I'll have to deal with it._

_But not alone. Mom will help me, and Will said I couldn't chase him away either._

_I still can't believe he fell asleep in my bed! With the light on!_ Ashley giggled.

Helen raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see what is funny about this situation."

"Um, nothing." Ashley sobered quickly. "So let's do this."

_twenty-three minutes later..._

"Well, Ashley, with these numbers, I'm pretty certain that you're pregnant. 17,760 mlU/ml is pretty conclusive. And since you say," Magnus swallowed the lump in her throat, "that what happened in the tunnels two months ago caused this, we can be fairly certain of how far along you are. Nevertheless, I am going to perform an ultrasound examination to confirm that you are eight and a half weeks pregnant. Well, a gestational age of about ten and a half weeks, actually, since that reckoning adds two weeks prior to conception. We'll probably even be able to get a fairly decent picture. I'll also look for any abnormalities or problems there might be."

"Problems? Why would there be problems? " Ashley's voice was filled with trepidation.

Helen couldn't help thinking how young her daughter looked as she laid back on the exam table. "Ashley, this conception is the result of abnormal hormones influencing your body. They may have done more than just get you pregnant, you know."

_I never even thought there might be any problems with the baby._ Ashley was so busy thinking she didn't even realize her mother had brought the ultrasound machine over. _Shit, shit, shit! Please let my baby be okay. I want him to be as cute as Will. As healthy as me. No freaky hormones or invisibility or cannibalistic tendencies, please!_

"This will probably feel a bit cold," Helen said, just before squeezing clear gel on Ashley's belly. As she ran the transducer over Ashley's belly, she reached over and squeezed Ashley's hand with her free one. It didn't take her long to home in on the image they were looking for.

"That's my baby?" Ashley said breathlessly. "It looks like a grainy blob."

"You think this is bad, I should show you the ultrasounds from my pregnancy."

Helen pushed a button to magnify the image and then went on to point out various features. As she watched her mother trace the baby's profile, Ashley wondered how she could have been so dense as to not recognize the baby's face right away. _So okay, it looks kind of like a one-armed alien with flippers, but I can see the arms and the legs or feet or whatever. And the eyes are fricking huge._

"Is the head supposed to be as big as the rest of the body put together?"

"Yes, Ashley." Magnus was studying the image.

"What's that big dark spot there? That's not a hole or something, is it?"

Magnus actually laughed. "No, that's most likely the liver. By eight weeks, the baby's liver is producing its own blood." She pointed to another spot on the screen. "This is the heart." Pushing another button, a rapid thumping sound began coming out of the speakers. "And that's the baby's heartbeat."

"It's so fast. Why is it so fast?" Ashley whispered, sounding winded.

"That's normal. All fetal heartbeats are much faster than adults'. In fact, if it were slower, it would be a cause for concern; bradycardia indicators in infants are twice as fast as those in adults."

"Oh." Ashley went back to staring at the image, fascinated.

"According to this image, the crown-rump length is just over 4 cm."

"So the baby's about the size of a peanut?"

"Actually, I was expecting it to be a bit larger, somewhere between 4.8 and 7 cm. You're sure this is from what happened in the tunnels?"

Ashley didn't bother responding verbally; the look she gave Helen insured she would not be asked to clarify that again.

"Well, this size suggests you were not even ovulating at the time- which would make sense since you were taking the pill- in which case the nubbin hormones most likely induced your ovulation and conception actually took place several days later."

"What! Are you serious? So it took _**days**_ for me to get pregnant? You mean I might have been able to avoid this whole mess with a morning-after pill or something? God! Why can nothing ever be simple?" Ashley buried her head in her hands briefly. "Do we have to tell Will that? Or can we just show him the sonogram and say, 'look at the heartbeat'?"

"I won't lie to him, Ashley." Helen's voice was firm, but compassionate. "But I also won't mention it unless he specifically asks."

Turning off the ultrasound machine, she schooled her features. Ashley was not going to like what she had to say next, but she had to be firm.

"Ashley, we need to talk about some things that are going to need to change in the next few months."

"Like what?"

"Like you getting a minimum of eight hours' sleep a night. Every night."

_Oh, here we go again, the same speech I've been getting for the last ten years._ thought Ashley_. I wish Mom would just accept that I'm a night owl and I'd rather stay up till three every night and then sleep in in the morning._

"Eating healthy, which includes eating breakfast. Every day. And no alcohol."

_Yada, yada, yada. I get my three squares a day, I just start at noon and have the last one at midnight. The no beer's gonna be a major drag, though._

"Not carrying anything heavy."

_See, now that one I can work with. That might even be fun. I can't wait to tell Henry 'no' the next time he asks me to carry something for him. Or better yet, ask him to carry stuff for me!_

"And probably most difficult for you, not getting injured. Which will require pulling you from fieldwork."

"What! Mom, NO!" Ashley's internal monologue morphed into screeched protests. "You can't! I'm not even showing yet! The baby's the size of a peanut! And who would you put in the field in my place? You haven't even finished training Will yet, and he was supposed to be my partner! You need me in the field!"

"Ashley!" Magnus had to speak quite loudly and forcefully to break Ashley's tirade. When her daughter stopped talking, Helen sighed heavily. "We both know you're an important asset in the field, Ashley. But it won't be long before you start showing, and then anyone inclined to hurt you would know your weakness. There are probably even abnormals that would be able to tell now that you are pregnant. However, I am not going to take you out of the field now. Because, as you have so forcefully reminded me, I don't have anyone available to replace you with, even in a temporary capacity. That is something I'll have to be thinking about, because I really don't want us to have to lose a field team for several months. What will most likely happen is that I'll phase you out over the next three months while training someone to fill in for you, at least on a temporary basis. Although, I've been talking with some of the other heads about forming more field teams. Three isn't really enough, and two definitely won't be.

"But regardless of what it will mean for your job, you need to be thinking about your safety and the baby's at this point. Because our job is not safe, and I cannot let you risk both your lives in this circumstance. That means trying to be a bit more careful and a lot less cocky from now on; my grandchild is depending on you. And not just on assignments, that also goes for tearing around like a maniac on that motorcycle of yours. You need to tone down on some of the speeding, and stuntwork, and riding over rough ground for a bit.

Seeing Ashley starting to tear up, Magnus put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. "I'm not doing it to be a meany, I just want to keep both of you safe. You know that, right?"

"I guess. It's just a lot to take in right now, and a lot of responsibility."

"Unfortunately, the responsibility part will likely only get heavier." Helen hugged Ashley and then rubbed her back.

"So, have you eaten yet today?"

Ashley rolled her eyes and made a face. "So the nagging begins, eh?"

Helen was completely unashamed and unrepentant. "Yes." Putting an arm around Ashley's shoulders, Magnus led her to the door. "Come on, I think I think I heard something about pancakes this morning."

As they entered the elevator, Helen couldn't help thinking of all the challenges Ashley would be facing over the next few weeks. Wanting to make it easier on her daughter, she offered, "Would you like me to help you break the news to everyone?"

"No, Mom." Ashley's voice made it clear she didn't appreciate the thought of that. "In fact, I'd prefer that you not tell anyone."

"Alright." Magnus sighed internally_. Somehow, this is not how I would have imagined being a grandmother._ She closed her eyes, but had to say one more thing, even if Ashley did think it was none of her business. "You should tell Will. Soon. He has the right to know."

"Okay."

_Well, that was easy. Now, now, Helen, don't go looking a gift horse in the mouth._


	18. Breakfast

**AN: The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. And no, the story's not dead either. I'll try to have the next chapter up next week.**

_**Breakfast**_

Will's phone rang in his pocket and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Next to him, Henry was also startled by the unexpected sound. As a result, they both crashed.

In the video game, that is.

Then Will drug his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

"Where are you?"

"The lounge." Will couldn't help cataloguing Ashley's tone of voice as he answered. _She sounds like she's got her mouth full._

"You think you got the ringer on that thing turned loud enough?" Henry piped up from next to him.

"You hungry? Because If you're going to have some of these pancakes the big guy made, I think you and Henry had better come now, they're going fast."

"Which would have nothing to do with the fact that you're on your third helping, would it?" Will overheard Magnus's happy voice on Ashley's end of the phone and couldn't help laughing, which earned him a glare from Henry.

"Care to let me in on the joke?"

"We'll be down in a few. Save some for us, okay?"

"Mmmph. 'Kay." Ashley ignored the eye roll shot her way for talking with her mouth full.

Will shut his phone and turned to Henry. "You know that breakfast we were talking about a while back? Ashley's busy scarfing down all the pancakes the big guy made. If we want some, we better get down there superfast."

Henry cocked his head and asked through a lopsided smile, "Race you?"

Henry read the answer in Will's eyes before the other man even had a chance to open his mouth, because he leapt up and was already racing down the hall before Will finished standing up.

Will raced down the stairs, having missed the elevator that seemed to have been waiting for Henry. As he barreled through the stairwell door, he heard the ding of the elevator and saw Henry take off again. As they both entered the dining room at a run, managing to run into a sideboard and the nearest chair, everyone already assembled there stopped eating to stare at them. Including Magnus, whose eyebrow was clearly not raised in approbation.

Will straightened his plaid shirt, huffing and puffing to boot, and Henry replaced the vase he had knocked over before nervously running his fingers over the wood credenza. They both began speaking at the same time: "Sorry Boss." "Sorry Magnus."

Taking a seat next to her, Will said, "But Ash did tell us we needed to get here ASAP if we wanted to eat."

"Yeah, and I was ready for breakfast hours ago," Henry added soulfully.

Ashley tried to turn the giggle into a cough, but it came out as more of a snort. "You didn't have to run."

"Yeah? because there's more on your plate than there is on the platter in the middle of the table," Henry couldn't help pointing out.

"So I was hungry. So sue me. I didn't eat anything yesterday, I have an excuse to be ravenous. What's yours?"

"Werewolf." Henry turned his attention from Ashley to the platter in the middle of the table, one hand already reaching forward to grab it, when he realized it was completely empty. "Hey!" Looking around the table, he quickly tagged Will as the culprit, due to the three large fluffy pancakes on his plate.

Will smiled back at him between bites. "You snooze, you lose." Chewing carefully, he added a small moan of pleasure.

Henry gaped for a minute before turning back to Ashley. "And you thought it would be unnecessary for me to race him here. Pass the sausages, please." He continued to grumble as he heaped sausages on his plate. "No respect for seniority whatsoever. Or the fact that I could rip him to shreds if I so desired. Guess I'll have to settle for feasting on meat to settle down my carnivoristic tendencies. Hmmph. And maybe an aikido lesson for a certain miscreant later on today..."

"Carnivoristic. Is that really a word?" Ashley bent her head to whisper in Will's ear.

"I think he means 'carnivorous'."

"I can hear you, you know."

_Well, Henry sure is not going for subtlety this morning_, Magnus observed. _Wonder what put the bee in his bonnet?_

"Well, that's wonderful Henry, but Will and I were attempting to speak privately. I guess we'll just have to continue the conversation later," announced Ashley in a normal volume and a somewhat snide tone of voice.

_I'd chalk that belittlement up to hormones, except there's usually a such a high level of playful backbiting among the three of them that I usually can't tell when they're joking. That sounded hurtful, though._

Henry, despite looking stung for a moment, decided to take it in stride and put on an air of magnanimity (and it must be admitted, a rather lordly tone): "Why thank you very much, Ashley. I do hope that means you're ready to have a less-privileged discussion with the rest of us now. I, for instance, am wondering what sudden illness befell you yesterday and kept you from eating, but from which you seem to have completely recovered from this morning." His voice took on a more pointed tone. "Among other things." A side glance at Will proved that the other had neither forgotten their discussion that morning, but was still not wanting to talk about it.

"I was just miserable yesterday, and I had a bit of an upset stomach. Must have been one of those 24-hour bugs."

Henry was confused. _Ashley's answer was fast and to her plate, as if she didn't want to admit the truth to me. But what kind of illness could possibly merit that?_ He mentally shook it off. It came right back. _Something's up between her and Will, but neither one of them wants to talk about it. He's been taking baths in her tub, and she's been sick with something she's ashamed to admit. And I've made a fool of myself to Annabelle, who now seems to be fluttering her eyelashes at me. Which I'm surely imagining. Wretched pheremones. Would it really be so much to ask to have a week with out fighting for our lives and not having our homes invaded by beautiful women who screw with our heads and our hormones? Note to self: make sure to stay away from siren-girl._

"Maybe I should have made a quadruple batch," the Bigfoot's grunt from behind him as he placed another platter of pancakes on the table brought Henry back to his senses.

"Uh, thanks, big guy." Ashley's titter made him squint at her malevolently. Which in turn, seemed to make her laugh harder.

"You could have told me there were more coming."

"Did you really think I'd eat ten myself and only leave three for the two of you to share?"

"Ten?" Will asked from her side. "You _were_ hungry."

"Yeah, you think she'll even fit in those tight pants of hers this afternoon?"

"Hey, I don't think you have anything to talk about, Mr. I-just-ate-five-pounds-of-meat-as-an-appetizer-and-am-now-piling-my-plate-with-pancakes."

"Moi? I can burn this off in five minutes. Do you realize how many calories I burn when I change?"

"So that's how you get away with eating a million pastries a day." Will snapped his fingers and put on a tragic expression. "Guess that means I'm clean out of luck."

Meanwhile, Annabelle was trying to figure these people out. _The looks that Will is giving this Ashley, the bending of their heads together- clearly, she's already claimed him. Which means I should probably try to give him some space, even if he is aware of the pheromones and able to control himself, I can't let my curiosity about why get the better of me until I find out how possessive this woman is and how close their relationship is. Although, judging by body language, the feelings go both ways. Oh rats! Why are the good ones always taken? _

_Although that Henry, he looks like he might have a pretty decent bod under that loose shirt. His biceps have definitely got some pretty good definition. And if he could smell my pheromones before they got on the ship, then I guess I could excuse his behavior yesterday. Although, that makes me wonder, how on earth were those two able to pick up on the pheromones from that far away? Usually men have to be within thirty feet before the effects become noticeable, and I've never seen it at more than fifty. And I've never heard anyone _describe _it as a _scent _before... hmm, I wonder if he's an abnormal. He doesn't look it- but then, as long as I keep my coat on, neither do I. And he might be more accepting if he is an abnormal. And what was all that about changing? He can't be talking about changing clothes..._

_But are they always this childish? Those two came racing in here like a pair of roughneck teenagers, and all three of them have been sniping at each other with barbed comments all through the meal. But then, maybe that's a form of playful teasing. Even when that Ashley basically told Henry to butt out, he made it into some kind of a joke and then made her blush and hide her head. And everyone else seems to just expect this kind of behavior. Steve, or whatever his name is, actually laughed._


	19. One Day at a Time

_**One Day at a Time**_

Ashley wandered out of the dining room wondering how she could get Will on her own without being totally and completely obvious about it. _Why did Mom have to go and ask about running those tests on the new abnormals? Well, okay, Mom's Mom, and that's why she wants to, but why did that Annabelle have to insist on having Will help? As if he's the only one capable of helping her. Hmmph. Mom could've done it just fine on her own, I'm sure. She was probably only asking for Annabelle's help out of politeness. Ruddy foreigner. I'm the only one who should just be able to claim Will like that. And neither he nor Mom even tried to say no to her. What's up with that?_

_Well, there's just one thing to do then. I'll have to find some emergency where Will's skills are desperately needed, but that's not so serious that Mom has to come too. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until after Henry claims him for his aikido lesson- it is _hot _how he's so good about getting his butt whipped on a regular basis, just to improve his self defense skills- although, on second thought, Will, hot and sweaty and in need of a shower, smelling all manly- there could be advantages to waiting._

_Or, I could claim him later this morning to practice his shooting. It's not exactly urgent, but it would get the two of us alone together. Unless he opens his trap and lets Magnus know that I told him weekly practices were no longer necessary because he's improved so much._

_Hmmm. I wonder just what kind of abnormals this Dietrun and Selda are, anyway. They were coming in a cargo container, so normally I'd think non-sentient and rather more of the beastly sort, but that just doesn't track with needing Will to help with them._

_Well, one thing at a time, I guess. Mom said I should check out the stuff in the attic before going out to buy new clothes; might as well do that today. Or tomorrow; I don't really feel like it at the moment. Now, where did Henry say the new abnormals were?_

_forty-five minutes later..._

"Wow." Ashley breathed the word against the glass window in the door to the habitat. Punching in her code, she approached the group in front of her quietly. Placing her hand on Will's back, she whispered, "Is that a unicorn?"

The unicorn, whose head Will was holding, whinnied. Annabelle, who was holding a leg, and Magnus, who was taking minute scrapings off a back hoof, looked up from where they were on the ground. Will peeked over his shoulder with a "Hi, Ash. Meet Dietrun."

"He's amazing. Can I pet his head?"

Magnus sighed. _Now, do I chew her out because this is clearly not a petting zoo, or do I keep my mouth closed and thank my lucky stars that her hormones have swung back to the soft and cuddly?_

Annabelle answered, "Go ahead and try once. I'd like to see how he reacts." Seeing Magnus' quizzical glance, she added, "He's not trying to back away like he did from you, Dr. Magnus, or fleeing in terror like he did from Henry. And even if he is getting more used to meeting people, there's a definite difference in how he reacts to different people. Selda, too. The more people we can introduce him too, the more data we have to try to determine the reason for the variances in their behavior."

Magnus was impressed. "What do you do for a living?" _And would you consider working in the Sanctuary network? Your mind works the right way._

"I'm a scientist." She blushed. "I do most of my work in a lab near my house and telecommute for meetings."

"What's your specialty? 'Scientist' is rather vague."

A smile. "Microbiology and botany. Primarily in the interests of identifying new plant species and researching possible uses in new drugs. Although I also dabble in zoology and medicine."

While her mother and Annabelle continued discussing science, Ashley had moved a bit further around Will and reached out to gently stroke Dietrun's face. Dietrun nickered, and Will relaxed this grip even further, even stroking the unicorn's forehead. Leaning close to Will, Ashley said quietly, "Meet me later on the shooting range. I have a few things to talk over with you."

"The shooting range?" Ashley's raised eyebrows stopped Will from asking any more; her face clearly told him, _Not here; I'll explain later._

Will decided a change of subject was in order. "So, how do you like Dietrun?"

"He's beautiful, and he seems friendly enough. Is Selda a unicorn, too, then?"

"Yep. She's probably hiding over there among the trees. She seems..."

Magnus cleared her throat. "Could we get back to work here?"

_Later, on the shooting range..._

Will put on earmuffs and slowly walked to behind where Ashley was standing, methodically pumping bullets into a silhouette. When she finished a clip and started to pop it out for a fresh one, he laid a hand on her shoulder.

Turning around, a slight smile came over her face and she took hear earmuffs off. "Hey, Will."

"What's up? I thought you said I was good enough with the handguns weeks ago."

"And you are. But I've decided that you need to be certed on the rifles, shotguns, and some of the other weapons you might need to use on occasion."

Will's raised eyebrow asked why.

"Mom confirmed it." Will wasn't sure what she was talking about at first, or why confirming- whatever- necessitated him learning to use more weapons. Until Ashley started wrapping herself around him and talking to his shoulder, that is. "But that also mean she's going to be taking me off the field teams. So I'm going to make sure you're ready. Because I don't think I could handle it if you went on a mission and got hurt because I didn't show you something. It's bad enough that I'm not going to be able to watch your back. If I don't give you every skill I've got, then it's on me, it's my fault if something bad happens to you..."

"No, it would not be your fault. Ashley, I'm not saying something is going to happen to me, but if it does, it will not be your fault. And if you want to train me on more stuff, fine. But don't let it be out of fear. Please, Ash, don't let it be out of fear. If you give in to fear, then you'll lose every time."

"You sound like my Mom."

"Oh?"

"That's what she used to say when she was training me. 'Don't give in to fear, Ashley. If you give into fear, then the bad guys always win. If you're afraid, they win, even if you manage to take them in or take them down. If you're afraid, you always lose.'"

"And you remember this verbatim?"

"It was a mantra. I simplified it, of course. My version was just 'No Fear.'"

"Well, Ash, I think you need to remember that mantra when you're worried about me."

"Why thank you, Dr, Phil."

"You're welcome. But might I suggest adding a few more mantras to your repertoire?"

"Oh, you think I need to talk to myself more than I do already? Sounds like you're trying to get help me earn myself some couch time." Ashley ran her fingers up and down his chest through his shirt. "But if that's what you want," she whispered, pulling his head down, "you could just ask."

"As appealing as that offer is," he breathed into her ear, "I think we need to take our relationship one step at a time and not jump into anything."

"Like your bed?"

Will groaned against her hair. "Yeah."

"But it could be so nice. And wouldn't you like to be able to honestly tell your child we made love before he or she was born?"

"Our child." He'd assumed it earlier, but hearing her say the words still choked him up. Hearing his tone of voice, Ashley raised her head from his shoulder and backed up a little so she could look him in the eye.

"Yeah. Our baby." Taking his hand in her own, she placed it against her belly. Seeing his Adam's apple bob, she added, "You should hear her heartbeat. It's so fast."

"_Her_ heartbeat?"

"She can't be an it. She might end up being a he, but she's not an it."

Wrapping his arms around Ashley, Will tucked his chin over her shoulder and tried not to giggle. "Well, personally, I'm not sure I want her to end up being a him." He paused. "Wait, that came out wrong. I wouldn't mind having a little boy. But a little girl who looks like you could be pretty cute."

"So are you saying you're going to raise this baby with me?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Is it what you want?"

"I asked you first."

"No, you didn't. I did."

"You asked what my plans were. I asked what you want. I can't make plans until I know what you want. I think we need to make plans together. So, what do you want to do?"

Ashley squeezed him tight. "I want us to be a family."

"Then that's what we'll work towards. One step at a time, though. I don't want you to wake up a year from now wishing you'd never seen me and feeling like I took advantage of your emotions when they were running high."

"Not gonna happen."

"We should still take this one day at a time. Small steps towards a bigger whole."

"Ok. But can one of those steps be you turning off the light when you fall asleep in my bed?"

Will laughed. "I think I can manage that. At some point. Oh, and Ashley?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Don't be afraid to ask for help."

"Well, in that case, I need your help right now, Will."

"Ok, shoot, what do you need me to do?"

"Funny how you put it that way. I want you to shoot. I want you to learn how to blow away a target with a shotgun."

"Do I have to accomplish this today?"

Ashley cocked her head to the side. "Nah. A wise friend of mine once said that we should take things one day at a time. So today we'll just get you comfortable with the 12 gauge. Tomorrow we can work on blowing away the targets."

"Your generosity and patience overwhelm me."

_The next day..._

"Huh, this peach babydoll actually looks kind of cute with my jeans. And it would totally hide the tummy." Ashley turned slightly to get another angle while looking over her shoulder into the mirror. Exactly why there was a full-length, freestanding mirror up here in the attic, she wasn't entirely sure. _Unless it's so Mom doesn't have to go downstairs to try stuff on if she wanted any of the old stuff out of the boxes up here. Although when she's going to wear this stuff again, I don't know. _

Looking around her, Ashley was once again impressed by the storage in the attic. Apparently, her mother was far more of a packrat than she'd ever let on. There were items from almost every decade she'd lived through up here: an antique bicycle with an absurdly large front wheel, a phonograph player, framed x-rays of someone's hands, a wooden box with a hand crank and sawhorse legs labeled 'Cinématographe Lumière', a huge white life vest, several radios from different eras, a couple of old box kites that she thought she remembered flying with Henry, an ancient IBM that looked as if it might have been cobbled together in someone's basement, a couple of hula hoops, and a pile of boxes that might soon collapse the floor due to their combined weight.

And the clothing- well, that was probably most impressive of all. There were hourglass ball gowns that looked straight out of _Gone With the Wind_, there were gowns with bustles, there were straight gowns, there were prim suits with skirts, there were flapper skirts, there were poodle skirts, there were pencil skirts and Bolero jackets, there were even a couple floral crinkle skirts and maxis that looked sooo hippie-ish, Ashley couldn't resist laughing at the mental image of her mother ever wearing such things. And stacked on shelves next to the closets were boxes labeled by the decade. Ashley had started with one of the boxes marked '1980s'- _and who else but my mother would need those first two digits, anyways?_- because that was the decade her mother had told her the pregnancy clothes should be in. _(As if I couldn't have figured that out.)_

_And I thought she was joking about the whole 'decade' thing. Should've known better. Man, I should really come up here at Halloween for my costume. It'd be a piece of cake, and completely historically accurate. I might also have to troll around in some of these other boxes... vintage is big now, right?_

To be perfectly honest, Ashley wasn't sure what clothes were 'in' at the moment; she'd never really cared overmuch about fashions. She'd always preferred leather and jeans, and it seemed most people considered her hot enough that they really didn't care if she was dressed in the latest fad; they'd hit on her no matter what she was wearing.

And in her digging, she'd already identified several loose sweaters- one of which had a shoulder slashed open- and several lacy tops she wanted, as well as an acid-wash jean jacket There were also several pairs of leggings that she decided to take. _But there hasn't been anything maternity-specific yet. That must be in one of the other boxes._ Already repacked into the box were a number of shirts and jackets with shoulder pads that went from small to something Ashley thought even Lady Gaga would shy away from.

As she pulled the next box from the shelf, she saw that the one behind it was marked 'Maternity'. Dumping the one in her hands on the floor, she reached for the box. And failed to even touch it, due to how far back it was. "What was Mom thinking, making these shelves this deep?" Ashley grumbled as she crawled up onto the shelf and grabbed the box, edging backwards carefully until her knees hit the edge. Then she stuck her feet down carefully, ducked out, stood up, and then reached in for the box again.

"Need some help?" the deep rumble behind her made her overbalance and nearly fall over before the big guy grabbed the box out of her arms.

"What are you doing up here?" Ashley asked as she sank into the wooden rocking chair she'd pulled over to clothes section earlier.

"I could ask the same of you. I can't remember ever seeing you in the attic before."

"Just trying on some of Mom's old clothes. I'm revamping my wardrobe."

Bigfoot grunted. "And when were you planning to redecorate your room? Or were you planning to make another room into a nursery?"

"What?" Ashley's voice rose to an almost squeaky pitch.

Bigfoot stared at the box he'd set down in front of her, and then locked eyes with her again.

Lowering her eyes to the box, she read the label again, then lowered her head into her hands. 'Maternity'. _Oh, shit! Why'd he have to come in when I had that box in my arms? Why? _Raising her head again, she pleaded, "Please don't tell anybody else yet. Give me a little while to get used to this first."

"Does Magnus know?"

"Yes. I- she- yesterday- yes, she knows." Ashley's hands flopped limply back into her lap.

"Then I will not tell anyone."

Standing, Ashley hugged him. "Thanks, big guy."

"Just take things one day at a time. And remember, we're all here for you if you ever need help."

Ashley chuckled mordantly. "That's what Will said yesterday."

Bigfoot pulled her into another hug. "He's right."


	20. The Meeting

_**AN: Sorry about the delays, everyone. I'm trying to get back into this story again. If I haven't posted another chapter by next week, please get on my case again...**_

_**And thank you to all of my loyal reviewers for keeping me going when it would have been much easier to go on permanent hiatus with this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you SanctuaryWilliam101, Blue Licorice and Bookworm, agent101, Misery Loves Sarah, Melissa Adams22, Newsgirl29, Surreal Squirrel, Marikalay, Lord Luke Skywalker, Passbe, The Nagging Cube, and especially Sylar1610!**_

_**The Meeting**_

The next morning, Will woke to the sound of a ringing phone. He started to try roll out of bed, only to realize the warm thing on his chest was not just his coverlet.

"Uh, Ash?"

"Hmm?"

"I gotta get the phone."

"Hmm?"

"I gotta get the phone."

"'Kay."

"That means you have to move. Off of me. So I can get up."

"It's too early."

"I thought we had a deal last night. You can use me as a teddy bear, but you have to understand my schedule includes late-night appointments and getting up early sometimes. And right now, my phone is ringing, AGAIN, which means that whoever is calling did not bother with voicemail, but hung up and called back instead. So it's important, and I really do need to get up and get it, which means that you really do need to get off me."

Ashley rolled over, taking the covers with her and muttering something that sounded to Will like "Killjoy."

Meanwhile, Will rolled out of bed and crossed the room to where his phone was laying on his dresser, scratching his chest as he went. _Gotta stop falling into bed in my clothes._ Picking up the phone, he answered, "Yeah?"

"Will?" Magnus was confused and barely registered the voice. So she felt the need to clarify who was on the other end. She glanced back at her phone screen a second, then put the phone back to her ear just in time to hear the reply.

"Yeah. Whacha need, Magnus?"

_To know why you are answering my daughter's phone. And sounding like I just woke you up, no less._ "Uh... you remember that there's a staff meeting this morning, right?"

"Yeah." Will yawned. "But it's not til seven, right?"

"Will, it's 7:15. And have you seen Ashley? She's also not here yet."

"It is?" Will's mind hadn't finished catching up yet; he was still stuck on the time issue and looking at the clock by his bed. "Shit, it is! Sorry Magnus. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay..." His voice trailed off. "Did you say something about Ash?"

Helen shook her head on the other end of the call, sure that she was paying a visit to the _Twilight Zone_. _Will's not usually this incoherent, even if you do manage to catch him asleep and then wake him up. _"Yes, Will. I asked if you know where Ashley is, since you apparently switched phones with her at some point without realizing."

"Huh?"

"You answered Ashley's phone." Magnus enunciated each word slowly and clearly. "I was actually trying to call her, but you answered. So, do you know where she is?"

_Yep, she's curled up in my bed. But I don't think either of us really wants to tell you that at this specific point in our relationship. I'm sure that would get both our asses chewed but good._

"Will?" _Did he fall asleep on the other end of the phone? I swear I can hear light snoring._

"Huh?"

"Do you know where Ashley is?" Once again, slow and deliberate, although Magnus was starting to feel like pulling her hair out in frustration.

"Uh, I think I can find her." _Since I know she's under the covers somewhere._

"You just worry about getting yourself to the meeting- preferably awake, William. We're going to try to have everyone here by eight, okay? And I'll try calling your phone, since I'm guessing that you two must have switched phones at some point."

"Okay." _That's right, she said I answered Ashley's phone. So where's mine? I better find it and let Ashley in on this so that she knows she's not supposed to know that we switched phones but..._ Will shook his head. _Just find the dratted phone, Will. _He didn't even realize that Magnus had hung up on him until he heard another ringing from the dresser. Going over and grabbing the phone, he went over and shook Ashley.

"Mmmm, go 'way," murmured Ashley. "Just because you need to get up doesn't mean I have to. And could you please answer your phone?"

"Nope, you have to answer my phone."

Ashley lifted an eyelid and gave him a one-eyed death glare. "Excuse me? I have to answer your phone? When did I become your secretary?"

"You aren't. But I just answered your phone thinking that it was my phone and it was your mom calling to say that we're both late for the meeting this morning and now she's calling you on my phone because she thinks that we switched phones. So you have to answer my phone, but you can't- you have to pretend that you don't know that it's her and that you don't realize that you have my phone."

"What?" Rubbing her face and trying to blink the sleep from her eyes, Ashley stuck out her other hand for the phone. "Oh, nevermind. Just go do- whatever."

"Yeah?" Ashley yawned loudly into the phone, still not entirely awake. "Whad is it?"

"Ashley, is that you?"

"Yeah."

_Déjà vu_, thought Magnus. _She sounds just as out of it as Will did. Maybe I should consider having these meetings later in the day. This is ridiculous._ "Are you okay?"

"Just trying to get those eight hours of sleep like you wanted." Ashley punctuated that remark with a deliberate yawn. _Now we guilt trip her into doing something I've been wanting for years. Later meetings._

"Oh." Magnus was flabbergasted by the comment. "Well, I was worried when you were late for the meeting this morning. Will was late, too, though, so we're going to try again to have everyone here for the staff meeting at eight. Since you're awake now, can you try to make it down here for that?"

"Um, sure, okay." Ashley yawned again. _Man, it's hard to wake up today._ "What time is it?" _And where does Will keep his clock?_

"It's 7:30."

"Oh. Already? Well, I better hurry up, then." And she shut the phone before her mother had time to answer.

Meanwhile, back in her office, Magnus held her phone in her hand and just stared at it for a minute. Henry broke her reverie. "You okay, boss?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, indeed, Henry, I'm fine. I think that it might be a good idea to go see what we can rustle up for breakfast; I'm fairly certain that I just woke both Will and Ashley up. And will you remind me to have them switch phones back?"

"You just woke Will up? That's rather unusual."

"Yes, although it was Ashley's comment..." Magnus trailed off. _That was just really unexpected. First of all, because I didn't know if she was actually listening to my advice when I gave it; she's always seemed to just brush it off in the past. And for her to actually use it as an excuse... Yes, I really need to consider doing meetings later in the day._

...

Ashley had been rummaging in the drawers for over several minutes and had already pulled out a tee shirt and some sweats when she finally realized why they weren't organized to her system and why she couldn't find any clean underwear in them: _They're Will's. You're in his room. Duh! Oh well, no time to worry about that now, if I want a shower before the meeting, I better hurry it up. Hope Will won't mind if I borrow his shower_.

Throwing the door to his ensuite bathroom open, Ashley couldn't help but bite back a gasp. _What was I thinking? I should have knocked. Of course, Will wanted a shower, too. But hubba, hubba, just look at those muscles. _Ashley had taken a step forward and was actually reaching out to stroke Will's abs before her mind registered the husky voice of her boyfriend.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?" she breathed. _Just think, if I'd have been just a little bit earlier, I could have caught him before he wrapped the towel around his waist. Stoppit, Ashley! This is not going to seem like the 'I'm tired and wasn't thinking when I opened the door' situation it really is if you don't quit perving on him! _

_But it's such a nice view, _her inner voice argued back_. You can't expect me to just ignore that golden skin, that sexy, spiky hair, those beautiful muscles, that low-slung towel..._

"Ash? Um... as nice as this is... uh, " Ashley''s eyes had jerked up abruptly when Will began speaking, but her new focus on his lips, and the way that she was licking her own, were making it difficult for Will to stay focused. Which had been hard enough when she was gazing reverently at his stomach. "Uh... I think I better go get dressed if we're going to make that meeting." At which point he moved past her and out of the bathroom as quickly as he could, closing the door behind him.

After he left, Ashley hopped in the shower, but couldn't help imagining for a minute that the warm water running down the back of her neck was really a set of long, golden fingers... or perhaps a pair of lips gently kissing...

...

Will came into Magnus's office, holding not one but two cups of coffee just as the clock struck eight. Setting one down on the coffee table and picking up a scone off of the tray already sitting there, Will sat down on the loveseat and glanced around the room. Henry, the Big Guy, Magnus, me- but no Ashley yet. Hope she gets here soon. I would hate to have to be so obvious as to run back to my room to get her. I thought I heard the shower turn off just before I left, though, so she should be along shortly.

Sure enough, Ashley came trotting into the room less than five minutes later, her wet hair laying on her shoulders and sending little trickles of water down the tee shirt she was wearing. Which Will wouldn't have minded so much if said white tee shirt weren't already damp enough to tell that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath it. He immediately took the grey sweatshirt he was wearing off and tossed it to Ashley. She caught it, but then looked back at him rather quizzically, rather surprised. Will, on the other hand, was busy looking down at the navy tee shirt he was straightening as an excuse to not have to look at Ashley while he got his expressions under control.

"Why don't you put that on, Ashley, dear?" Magnus's tone of voice, amused rather than upset by the fact that her daughter looked like an entrant in a wet tee shirt contest, surprised Will and brought his head swiveling around to find her standing by the window, looking out at the lawn, and apparently fighting a smile.

_I don't get it. What's so funny?_ thought Will. He would never in a million years have guessed that Magnus' smile was caused as much by his instantaneous unplanned actions to cover Ashley up as by her thoughtless state and transparent clothes. _How sweet that he's acting so possessive of her._

Then Ashley looked down and gasped, realizing exactly why every eye in the room had been drawn to her shirt when she walked in. She quickly pivoted and threw the sweatshirt over her head. Everyone else looked away. After zipping the sweatshirt the rest of the way up, Ashley sat down on the loveseat next to Will and looked at his coffee covetously. "Hey, don't suppose you want to share, do you?"

Will grinned and motioned to the cup on the table with the one in his hand. "Brought you your own."

Ashley made a small moue of disappointment that was given the lie when she followed it up with a brilliant smile and a heartfelt "Thanks, Will".

Then Henry started growling softly without even realizing it. Which made everyone turn to face him.

"What's the matter, Henry?" asked Ashley ingenuously.

Henry answered by turning to Will and pointing at his chest sternly, his voice harsh and accusing. "You lied to me. You told me you weren't taking advantage of her. You acted all shocked, and I believed you. But you were lying. I oughta..."

Will figured he better get out in front of this as best he could. He wasn't sure what had Henry so upset, but his tone of voice was downright frightening, and Will could imagine that glower on a transforming face. "I did _**not **_lie and I _**am not**_ taking advantage of her."

"Oh, yeah? Then would you care to clarify why she's wearing your clothes, smells like your shampoo, and answered your phone when Mom woke her up this morning? Or why she came in from the hallway that leads to your room, and not the one that leads to her own?"

_Um, actually, no, that wouldn't be on my list of things that I'd like to do today_, thought Will. _But I better do it anyway if I don't want my head ripped off._ Just as he opened his mouth to defend himself, however, Ashley started chewing Henry out.

"Where do you get off chewing out Will for taking advantage of me? It's totally the other way around!"

_Okay... well I thought she was coming to my defense. Interesting strategy there though... probably not the one I'd have chosen._

"What?" roared Henry. "What do you mean, it's the other way around?"

"I've been taking advantage of him!"

"Um... actually..." Will raised a single finger and leaned forward, which because he was seated between the two siblings came close to putting him right between them.

"No, Will, you just let me get something straight with my big brother," yelled Ashley, scootching forward herself and simultaneously pushing him back. Waving her hands energetically, she laid into Henry, "I smell like his shampoo because he let me borrow his shower this morning. I'm wearing his clothes because I went rummaging around in his drawers rather than walking back to my own room. And yes, I did sleep there last night, but it was nothing like what you're thinking! First of all, I went to his room because I couldn't sleep and was hoping he'd let me cuddle for a while. And he did, but then he had to leave and go to some stupid two a.m. appointment to talk to Shelby. And when he got back, he was so tired, I don't think he even remembered I was there, because he was asleep before I even had time to roll back over and put my arms around him again! So nothing happened!

"And even if something had happened last night, which it didn't, but even if it had, it wouldn't have been any of your business! And even if it was your business, which it isn't, you still wouldn't need to get on Will's case for me because I'm more than capable of doing that on my own! And even if you somehow thought you had the right, which you don't, you still have no reason to chew out my Will for something that I started and I have been pushing, and he's been encouraging me to take it slow with!"

By the end of this tirade, Henry had shrunk back into the wing chair and was looking at Ashley rather apologetically. "Okay, so you're a willing participant... but don't you think you should slow down a bit? You've only been dating a couple weeks... I mean, should you really be sleeping together this soon?"

"Henry Foss!" Ashley thundered. "Don't you dare presume to tell me what I can and cannot do with the father of my child!"

That comment sent Will's head into his hands. _Oh, shit. That's it, Henry and the Big Guy will rip me to shreds now. I doubt I'll even get the chance to explain that it's from the incident in the tunnels before they rip me limb from limb. Pity, really, that speech was going so well..._

_Wait a second. How come nothing's happening? I'm still alive, and no one's even pummeling me, let alone using claws and Class 8 Protean bad-ass moves?_ Will lifted his head to find an interesting tableau:

Magnus, still by the window, and now using one hand to cover her mouth. Her cheeks gave away the fact that she was still fighting a smile, though.

The Big Guy, sitting in a wing chair completely unruffled. _He doesn't even look surprised by the news that Ashley's pregnant, _thought Will in amazement.

Henry, mouth opening and closing without making a sound and staring wide-eyed at Ashley, fingers twitching slightly, but otherwise frozen as solid as the ice in a Minnesota pond in the middle of winter.

And Ashley, sitting back against the couch now, cheeks flushed and eyes watching her fingers fidgeting with his sweatshirt.

Figuring that he better do something before this turned really awkward, Will decided to start with Magnus. _Because if I have a choice, I would much rather have humor than shock or embarrassment_. "So, Magnus, would you mind sharing what you find so funny about this?"

Helen giggled a little, since it was no longer worth trying to hide it after Will caught her out like that. "Well, I've always found it funny when Ashley yells at Henry. And the hormonal thing is definitely more amusing when it's happening to someone else. But I just can't help thinking that if that's how she announces she's pregnant, there's going to be a lot of shell-shocked abnormals wandering around the Sanctuary this week!"

Will couldn't help chuckling at the mental image that Magnus had conjured. Then he guffawed loudly before adding to her comment, "And can you image Steve with both of his mouths gaping like Henry's and nothing coming out?"

That made Bigfoot and Ashley start to laugh as well, and when he looked over at Henry, Will noticed that he'd finally managed to get his mouth shut all the way and was even cracking a hesitant smile. The determined look in his eyes, however, said he wasn't quite ready to let the issue go so easily.

When the laughter died down, Will's suspicions were proven correct. Looking at Ashley intently, Henry asked quietly, "You're pregnant?"

"Yes." Ashley chuckled ruefully. "Although that's not exactly how I meant to tell you."

Henry nodded understandingly. "You're sure?"

Ashley nodded back, figuring, _since I blurted out my news while blasting him with my anger- which may have been slightly uncalled for anyway, he was just looking out for me- although when's he's going to realize I'm not a helpless baby anymore, I mean, really? Does he honestly think_ _I still need looking after? But since I shocked him like that, the least I can do is answer his questions_

"And Will's the father?"

This time, the serious looks got shared by the loveseat's occupants, who answered in unison, "Yes."

Henry looked down a moment, unsure of how far he really wanted to push this. "And you're sure this is a good idea? This is what you really want?" He was flabbergasted by the fact that he heard a throat being cleared, a sniff, and some shuffling as a reply. Looking up, he noticed Will now had an arm around Ashley, who had her head sandwiched between his shoulder and neck as he rubbed her back.

"Well, Henry, I think I'd have to say it's a little late to be asking if this is a good idea. It's happening. Whether we planned it or not." Will looked over at Ashley, trying to think how to put this as delicately as possible.

Henry opened his mouth, ready to get on a few someones' cases for not using protection, but Will caught it and cut him off.

"Let me finish explaining first, Henry." He took a deep breath. "Ashley's two months pregnant." _Please let that be enough. Come on, Henry, use that razor-sharp mind of yours. _ "Two months." _Don't make me spell it out._

"What do I care if she's two weeks, two months, or two years pregnant? The point is..." Henry's exclamation trailed off as he realized the significance of _**two months**_. "Oh. Oh." _Oh, shit. So did not need this complication. _Looking at the way they were situated on the couch, and re-considering all the news he'd so far received at the meeting today, Henry decided, _I guess it's a good thing that it's drawing them closer together instead of breaking them up. I just hope they can weather this._

_Oh, and I guess this explains what made Will's stress levels skyrocket the other day_.

"Well, uh, if there's anything you, uh, need, any help or anything," Henry stammered, unsure how to really express his support for something like this, especially given how the discussion had started.

"Well," said Ashley, looking over at him, although her head was still leaning against Will's shoulder, "maybe you could talk to Will, convince him that it's okay to take his clothes off even when he is sharing a bed."

Will's crimson face let on that there was grounds for teasing here, and Henry was just about to take his sister up on this generous offering of her boyfriend on a platter when Will reached over, tickled Ashley's ribs, cracked a self-deprecating smile, and said, "At least I got the light turned off this time."

"You didn't turn the light on last night!"

"Of course not, then I might have left it on," Will teased.

"But that doesn't count!"

"Aw, come on, I distinctly remember being under the blankets this morning, don't I at least get points for that?"

"No. You were only under the covers because I pulled the blankets over you after you fell asleep."

"Well, you're the one who cares about it," Will retorted.

"I really think I need to hear this whole story," announced Henry at the first available break in the conversation, leaning in with an enthusiastic grin on his face.

"Well, suffice it to say, that after Ashley sobbed out her suspicions on my shoulder the other night..."

"I did not sob!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, maybe just a little..." Ashley acquiesced.

"So, after Ashley sobbed out her that she thought she might be pregnant, I gave her the very wise advice to have Magnus confirm it before doing any more worrying. And then I told her she should get some rest, because she looked beat."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"You are so rude, telling other people how tired and ugly your girlfriend looks." Ashley poked Will.

"I didn't say anything about ugly," said Will, perturbed.

"It's implied."

"No, it's not, and anyhow, it's in the past and this is my story, and if I say you looked tired, you should believe me, that you looked tired. Emotions can be more tiring than a physical workout, anyways, you know."

"Yeah, whatever." Ashley replied snarkily. Turning to Henry, she added, "I was as fresh as a daisy."

"Um-hum, that's why you let me tuck you into bed, I suppose?" Will paused. "Anyhow, someone, who was neither tired nor emotionally needy, apparently," Will turned to Henry and grinned broadly, "pleaded and begged for me to stay and hold her. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully unless I did."

"But guess who fell asleep?"

"Hey, don't get ahead, we're not there yet." Will shot a quelling glance at his girlfriend before continuing to Henry, "So, of course, being the caring person that I am, I gave in and promised to hold her until she fell asleep. But, being a gentleman, and having every intention of leaving once she was asleep, I laid down, in my clothes, on top of her blankets, with the lamp on, to hold her."

"But you fell asleep, too." Henry filled in the end of the story.

"Yes, and she hasn't stopped whining about my bad sleeping habits since."

"Ahem." Magnus cleared her throat loudly. "As interesting as your sleeping habits are, William, I would appreciate it if we could get to the purpose of this meeting sometime today."

"Hey! First I wanna know why nobody else was as surprised as I was when Ashley said she was- is- pregnant! In fact, now that I think about it, none of you seemed surprised at all! What's with that? Did you all just decide to keep it a secret from me?"

"Well, Ashley asked me..." "Actually, I was at first, but..." "I promised not to tell..." Magnus, Will, and Bigfoot all began talking at the same time.

"We weren't trying to hide it from you, Henry," Ashley cut in. "It just sort of happened that way..."

"Really." Henry's glare made it clear what how much he really believed that was the case.

"Really. I told Will, because it's his, and then he insisted I have Mom confirm it, so the next day I told her; and then yesterday Bigfoot caught me in the attic looking through Mom's old maternity clothes, and so he kind of guessed, and so they all knew, but I just hadn't got around to telling you yet. I mean, so far I've only told one person a day, and it's still been hard every time. I only just figured it out for myself four days ago. I was kind of trying to get used to the idea myself before I told everyone..." She looked deep into his eyes. "I really wasn't trying to exclude you, Henry.

She sighed. "And I'm going to ask you the same thing that I asked the others. Don't tell anybody just yet; I could still use a little more time to get used to this. Okay?"

"Okay." Henry was a little surprised by what Ashley had just told him and he decided that it wouldn't really hurt to do as she asked.

"And now, are we finally ready to discuss the items on the agenda? It's nine o'clock already and we still haven't even started the meeting." Magnus's tone made it clear that she was moving on, and the others were expected to keep up, now. "Henry, what is the status of that new Directed Electro-Magnetic Pulse gun that you've been working on?"


	21. Checking Out the Apartment

_**Checking Out the Apartment**_

It was barely a week later that Will was getting training on using shotguns from Ashley when her phone started vibrating. Watching him demolish a target with two slugs to the chest and one to the head as she pulled the phone out of her pocket, she signaled him to stop so that she'd be able to hear better.

As she pulled the earplugs she was wearing out, she was already speaking. "Yeah, Mom?" she paused. "The shooting range, with Will."

Will pulled his own earplugs out in time to hear the rest of Ashley's side of the conversation.

"Nah, just training...An emergency meeting?... Yeah, we can meet you and Henry in five. On our way."

"Did I just hear an emergency meeting get called?"

"Yep. Let's go put that away. We're supposed to be upstairs in five." As Ashley led the way out of the shooting range and into the armory, she gave Will a playful punch on the shoulder. "By the way, I think we can move on to buckshot in the twelve-gauge next time. I think you've got slugs licked."

"Is that entirely necessary?"

"Told you, I'm gonna check you out on everything. That includes a potato gun loaded with bean bags and Henry's new DEMP gun, when he gets it working correctly."

"Wait." Will turned to Ashley as the elevator doors closed. "_You're_ going to check me out on Henry's new gun? What makes you so qualified? He hasn't even finished it yet."

"I've been involved with testing it from day one. I've probably fired it more than Henry."

"Oh." The door dinged and Will put a hand on Ashley's back as they walked down the hall together to Magnus's office.

As they entered, Magnus told them, "Don't bother taking a seat; the two of you will be headed back out right away."

"Sounds serious."

"Yes, it is. There's been a kidnapping."

"A kidnapping? That's a little out of our jurisdiction, don't you think?"

"Not at all. The boy who was kidnapped is an abnormal who is expected to develop psychic powers."

"Expected to?" Ashley interrupted.

"Yes, as far as I far as I know, he hasn't begun to manifest them yet, but because of who his parents are- were- whatever- it's a virtual certainty that he will inherit their gifts that way."

"So what are we looking at? Teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy, telecoercion, prescience, what?" Henry inquired.

"His father was a very skilled telepath and his mother is a strong telekinetic whose powers include moving herself and levitation for hours. With that kind of a pedigree, it could be either or both. And it sounds like Mariah is worried that they took him either to force her to use her powers or in the hopes that his will break soon and they'll be able to use him directly." Turning to Will and Ashley, she continued, "I want you two to go to her apartment immediately and see what you can discover. Will, if you can call your contact in the police department en route and get this kicked to us, that would be great, because we would like to actually formally report this to the police as a kidnapping. It'll be safe since the boy appears fully human."

"Well, Magnus," Will replied, "that might actually be a problem since all kidnappings are considered federal jurisdiction. We'd need to get the FBI to give it to us. Your clout might actually work better for us there. But I might be able to smooth it over with the local LEOs so that we get the crime scene first."

"Okay, I'll make some calls, then. Here's the address." She handed him a piece of paper. "Let me know if you get any leads at the apartment. Meanwhile, Henry, I want you to be running a cybersearch. Try to get a bead on why the kidnappers chose Joshua.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She snapped when Will stood there just looking at the paper for a minute. "Go, interview, check out the crime scene, find the boy."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Okay, _Boss_. Mind if I take a minute to figure out where this is and the quickest way to get there?"

Ashley snatched the paper out of his fingers. "Oh, for heavens sake, let's just get going."

...

_three hours later, Kingsessing, PA_

Ashley pulled the van up in front of a building that managed to look neither well cared for nor abused. _Well worn, but not just left to fall apart. Kind of gives the impression that someone would do more for the building if they could afford to, but they can't. I like all the flowers and plants on that balcony. Come to think of it, that might even be the apartment that we're looking for. The number is listed as 2-B._

"Come on, Will, let's go." She turned to give her partner a light slap on the arm, only to discover that he wasn't in the seat next to her. Hearing a noise behind her, she saw Will pulling a black duffel bag from the back of the van. She grinned back at him. _Okay, so he's ahead of me. Well, let's go Ashley._

Walking up in front of him, Ashley held the door and was rewarded with a soft-spoken "Thank you."

_Will's been pretty quiet all the way up here. I wonder what's going on with him?_ Ashley wondered as they walked up the stairs to the second floor. Knocking on the door, Ashley realized that this apartment was indeed the one with all the plants on the balcony.

"Who is it?" There was no disguising the fact that the feminine voice on the other side of the door was distraught.

"Will Zimmerman and Ashley Magnus from the Sanctuary."

"Magnus? Wait, Did you say _Ashley _Magnus?" The door was pulled open, but the redhead in the doorway looked distrustful.

"Yes," Ashley smiled, familiar with this reaction from people who knew her mother. _Everybody hears that last name and thinks of Mom. I'm just the afterthought, the cheap knock-off in their minds. Second choice, definitely._ "I'm Helen's daughter. You're Mariah Jones?" At the woman's nod, she added, "May we come in?"

"Oh. Where are my manners?" The door was pushed all the way open and Mariah waved them in. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize that Magnus had a daughter. And, as you might guess, I've been a little suspicious about everyone today."

"Don't worry about it, you're hardly the first to expect my mother instead of me."

While the women had been talking, Will's eyes had been darting all over the kitchen and living room. He noticed the blanket and well-worn Elmo doll on the couch; the mug, empty box of kleenex, and cell phone on the end table. He noticed the congealed tomato soup in the bowls on the kitchen counter, the now-disgusting looking grilled cheese sandwiches from an uneaten lunch- despite the fact that it was now close to four in the afternoon. Looking back at his companions, he noticed the swelling around Mariah's eyes and her red nose.

_Clearly, she's been crying a lot. Too upset to eat, too worried to concentrate on anything. She's probably been sitting on the couch waiting for the phone to ring and someone to either tell her what to do or tell her they've found her child._

"Mariah? Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was cooking... making lunch... Josh was playing in his bedroom." Mariah sniffed, tears starting to leak out of her eyes. "I'd checked on him just before I started lunch, and when it was ready I shouted for him to come out. And when he didn't come, I yelled again. I thought he was just caught up in playing with his legos and didn't hear me. And then when I went back to his room again, he was gone. I still don't have any idea how they got him, there's only one door into the apartment, and it's right there!" She pointed at the door, nearly screaming. "If anybody had come into the apartment, I would have seen them, I would have noticed! The only way that I can think of that anyone could get to him would be teleportation. But even then, I should have heard something- Josh screaming, a struggle, something! And there was nothing, nothing." She rubbed her forehead with hand and reached for another kleenex with the other."

Will stepped over and began rubbing slow circles on her back as he tried to comfort her. "Shhh, it's not your fault. It sounds like there was nothing you could possibly have done to prevent this. Maybe you could just take us back to Josh's room to look around?"


	22. Leads

_**Leads**_

As it turned out, Mariah stayed in the living room, practically collapsing onto the sofa when Will asked her to show them Josh's room. "I'm- I'm not sure I could face looking in there again just yet," she stuttered, paling. Ashley started tome water going to make some tea and Will headed back in the direction Mariah had pointed on his own.

Entering the boy's room, he found it much the same as Mariah had said: legos spread out all over the floor and pretty much everything else in its place. Nothing knocked over or suggesting a struggle.

Going over to the window, he found that it was not only shut, it was locked from the inside. There was no way that anyone could have come in through it to take the boy. Turning, he leaned against the sill and looked back at the room. _That must have been terrifying, to have your child kidnapped while you were right there in the next room, _he thought. _If someone took our baby... he inhaled sharply, finding it hard to breathe at the thought. I'd want to find them and rip them in two. Or crush Ash in my arms and never let go, just to make sure they couldn't take her too._

He paused a moment, staring into nothingness. _I can't believe I already have this strong a reaction. I only found out about the baby two weeks ago, and already the thought of losing him or her makes me ache, almost like I've got the flu. With Ashley, I guess it's a little more understandable- I was attracted to her before, and even if we hadn't started dating last month, it would've still torn me up inside if something happened to her- just like it would if Magnus, Henry, or the Big Guy got hurt. And it's only natural that as we date, I'd get closer to her._

_Now Will,_ he chided himself. _Save the introspection for later. That's not going to help you solve this case any sooner, and it's certainly not going to help Mariah cope with this, either. _As he focused once more on the room in front of him, he noticed something.

_There are scuffs in the carpet_. Will bent down and ran a hand over the thick blue carpet in front of him, first in one direction, then the other. It seemed to change colors directionally. Looking back over by the lego pile, he yelled, "Ashley! Will you bring the camera back here, please?"

It only took a few minutes for Ashley to arrive, holding a digital camera in one hand. "You sound excited! What did you find?" she asked breathlessly. Will looked at her sharply for a moment, then decided her tone was due to excitement, not windedness.

Pointing to the marks in the carpet, he answered, "Our kidnappers' tracks, maybe. I wanted to get photos before I walk over there and possibly mess them up."

As Ashley shot several pictures from different angles, Will picked his way carefully across the floor. When she finished, he stepped into the bare spot in the center of the circle of legos and looked in the direction of the scuff marks- which, he realized, were most likely caused, at least in part, by the closet door. Opening the door, he watched the tracks disappear, confirming his theory. He stepped inside the closet and felt for a light switch or string, but couldn't find a light. Turning, he was going to ask Ashley to go grab one of the flashlights- but she held one out to him before he had the chance. "Thanks."

Will shone the flashlight all around the inside of the closet, certain that there must be some clue in it to how the kidnappers had entered the apartment, but finding nothing. He pressed on the walls, checked for loose boards- nothing. But if you were going to teleport in, why would you choose a small space full of shelves rather than a mostly empty room? That didn't make any sense whatsoever. Will smacked the carpeted floor he was kneeling on in disgust. _There has to be some kind of clue here! Why can't I find it? Where are my 'insights' when I need them?_

"Will?" Ashley'd seen him hit the floor in frustration, and came up behind him, bending over to rub his back.

"I know there's something here. There's got to be!" Will's frustration leaked into his voice, as well as a fair bit of disappointment. "But I can't find it."

"Well, let's give Henry a call. Maybe he can look at the building blueprints or something and find something to help us. Or maybe he could come and sniff something out, the way he did with Edward."

Will looked at Ashley and nodded. "And in the mean time, we should probably go have a talk with Mariah." He laughed self-deprecatingly. "I don't even know how old Joshua is; do you?"

An hour later, Will had a photo and a description of a six-year-old boy with tousled blond hair, big blue eyes, and a mother that loved him very much. What worried him most, however, was the whispered confidence that Mariah thought he might be gaining access to his powers. She wasn't sure, but she'd noticed things- small things, she said- like his cars going further than they ought to from the push his hands gave, or him coming down to earth just a little too lightly when jumping off the swings. And if he was starting to show signs of telekinesis similar to her own, Mariah didn't think that it was conscious on Joshua's part. More- just he wanted something to happen, and his subconscious activated the part of his brain necessary to make it happen that way.

The very thought of the little boy was sending shivers up and down Ashley's spine. _He looks too much like I imagine Will must have looked when his mother was attacked. And now, he's been taken away from his mother- he'll be lost and hurting. _She grimaced as she looked down at the fingers entwined with her own. _Too close to home for him? It feels like I'm the one lonely and worried and scared right now, and I don't even have a reason to be._

A knock on the door brought Ashley out of her reverie. Looking over and considering the pale woman in the armchair, Ashley got up to get the door for her.

As she opened the door, Ashley exclaimed, "Henry! How did you get here so soon?" Seeing who was behind him, she added, "And you, too, Mom?"

"We only left an hour after you. Now may come in, rather than loitering in the hallway?"

"Oh, of course," Ashley answered, still somewhat flustered. "I guess I just didn't realize that you'd be leaving the Sanctuary for this case, too."

"Well, originally, I had planned to wait and see if it would be necessary first, but after my call to the FBI, I decided there was no time to lose; they're only giving us the green light for eight hours, and even that had a price tag."

"Eight hours and it cost us?" Ashley snarked. "Sounds like you're losing your touch, Mom."

"Nah," drawled Henry. "But her contact there died- so she lost most of her influence."

"So how much did it cost us?"

Helen looked at Ashley and Will sheepishly. "We have a series of competitions to put on in order to prove to the FBI that you are indeed, quite capable of handling situations like this. They were willing to give us a short window on this case on the word of my contact in Scotland Yard, but they demanded the competitions to prove ourselves worthy in case we ever want to something like this again."

"More like Mom pissed the guy off by first claiming that we were better than them, then going to Scotland Yard and getting them to bully the FBI..." catching the glance from Magnus. "Uh, yeah boss, shutting up."

"I can't believe I missed that!" Will felt like banging his head against the wall. After he'd explained about the tracks into the closet, Helen went in and looked. It took her about thirty seconds to find the trapdoor in the ceiling.

Within minutes, Henry had used his datapad to find building schematics, determine who was renting the space above, and track their identities as far back as they went. Unfortunately, he discovered that they were burn identities created by someone with only mid-level skill and they were only backstopped about a year and had apparently only been in use for about six months.

In addition to renting the apartment in above Mariah's, they had been used to rent a warehouse in a less savory part of town.


	23. Warehouse 13

_**AN:**_

_**So, I looked back at some records the other day and was, ahem, rather unpleasantly surprised by what I found. From the original online posting of this fic to chapter 15 took roughly two months. The following seven chapters have taken me a bit more than a year. Makes it painfully obvious how much of this was already splat drafted or outlined before I started posting, eh?**_

_**Anyhow, the knowledge that I've been working on this fic for roughly 15 months now, and all of my followers have been so patient with me... I figured you deserved at least one more chapter as soon as I could possibly get it out, even if that means it's unbetaed and quite frankly, still in what I would think of as "first draft" stage (because the thought of posting a splat draft is unconscionable, but I'm not sadistic enough to make you wait through a cool down period). So I've set aside the applications for the day, and am just focusing on writing. **_

_**And if any of you are principals out there, who are also reading my application for a teaching position, well, think of it as me taking a mental health day, completely unpaid, because there's only so long you can keep sending out résumés and being ignored before you lose confidence in yourself, and kind reviews from fanfic readers can provide a much-needed shot in the arm.**_

_**Hope you all enjoy this next chapter, and don't forget to click the link to tell me if my fight scenes suck or not!**_

_**Warehouse 13**_

Less than forty minutes later, the Sanctuary van was parked outside a warehouse and the team were strapping on bulletproof vests and grabbing stunners and handheld radios.

"It would have to be Warehouse 13," muttered Henry under his breath.

"Problems with the number thirteen, Henry?" Will asked.

"Nah, 'course not. Just because it's an unlucky number, and we don't really need any bad luck at the moment..."

"You lot aren't actually arguing over that ridiculous superstition, are you?" Magnus cut in.

"No, no, boss. I'm just sayin'..."

"Henry, we'll make our own luck. And we'll make them wish they never picked unlucky number thirteen." Ashley flicked the safety on her backup pistol on before sliding it into the back of her jeans. "Now let's get this show on the road, we've got a little boy to find."

As they approached the warehouse, Magnus motioned to Henry, saying, "Henry, you come with me; Ashley, you go around the other side with Will. And watch your backs!"

"Will do," replied Ashley as she led crept around the building, hugging the wall. When they reached the door, Ashley went to the far side, peeking in the window as she passed. Counting down from three, Will opened the door as Ashley entered, gun first. Will was mildly surprised to find that even though on the outside it looked like a normal warehouse, on the inside it had been divided up into a number of rooms. Getting no immediate response to their entry, they began to creep down the corridor.

Suddenly, they heard a shuffling noise coming from up ahead and picked up the pace, rounding a corner to see two men coming out of a doorway on their left with boxes in their arms. Ashley yelled at them to freeze, which made them drop the boxes on the floor. One took off running and the other drew a gun and fired at them. Ducking back around the corner, Will crouched down and Ashley came right behind him so that they could both lean around and fire.

After three stunner blasts from each of them and five shots from a SIG coming their way, they heard more footsteps. Leaning out, they saw the second man running down the hall and gave chase. Will led the way, with Ashley turning every so often to check and make sure that no one was coming up behind them. Turning another corner, they heard yells coming from a room on their right.

They flanked the door and then entered, Will immediately going left and Ashley to the right as three men fired at them. The bang of a door closing attested to the fact that at least one person had just exited the room that they were in. Ashley took cover behind a counter and returned fire on one of the assailants, who had taken a position on a catwalk above them; another approached Will, taking shots as often as he could as he ran from crate to crate. Will ducked behind and under a desk and somehow (Ashley wasn't sure how) managed to scrunch himself into a position where he could stick his arm and the stunner through the five-inch gap caused by the desk legs and fire back while remaining surrounded on three sides by the metal desk. The third bad guy was hiding behind something that looked vaguely like a dentist's chair- if dentist's chairs had restraints and came with five arms hanging down with various nasty-looking tools hanging from the ends over your head.

The gunfight continued for several minutes, with each of the five participants seeming to alternate between opponents until will managed to stun the one behind the nightmarish chair. Just a few seconds later, Ashley stunned the one who was creeping up on Will. Seeing his two comrades go down made the one on the catwalk turn and run. Unfortunately for him, Ashley hit him in the ankle with a stun bolt and he fell down the catwalk stairs, tumbling to the bottom and landing in a heap at the bottom, bleeding from a cut on his head and no doubt banged up in other ways as well.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and called out, "Will? You okay?"

A couple of grunts came her way and she started rushing over to the desk she'd seen Will take cover under. As she neared the desk, she stopped, trying hard not to laugh at the predicament her boyfriend had managed to get himself into.

He was stuck under the desk.

Not only that, but his head and shoulders were on the floor, with his back curled upwards along one set of drawers, his knees against his chest, and his feet planted on the underside of the desktop. And of course, the arm she'd seen before, snaking out under the gap at the bottom of the desk to fire.

"Well, are you going to just stand there all day, or are you planning to help me get out of here?" Will rasped.

Ashley quelled the laughter in her throat and reached down for her boyfriend's left hand, pulling him out as she remarked, "What I wouldn't have given for a camera. You do beat all, Will Zimmerman."

Rolling his shoulders back, Will thanked Ash. Looking at the door on the other side of the room that had swung shut as they entered, he asked, "Can you take care of cuffing these guys, and I'll go after the other one before he gets any more of a lead on us?"

"Sure thing, but I've only got two pair of cuffs on me."

"Here." Will fished pack of zip ties out of his front jeans pocket. "These'll do just as well. And I'd do their ankles as well."

"I'll be right behind you as soon as I finish!" Ashley called as he jogged off in the direction of the door.

"Good! I couldn't ask for better backup!" Will yelled over his shoulder.

Once through the doorway, Will was dismayed to realize that he was in another hallway. _The other guy could be anywhere_, he thought ruefully. Looking carefully both ways, he noticed a splotch on the wall a little ways to the left. Approaching, he realized that the splotch was a small dent in the wall that seemed to attract shadows. _Well, it's by no means conclusive, but it's as good as anything._ Will continued down the hall in that direction, pausing to check each room he passed.

Then he heard it: footsteps. At first Will wasn't sure which direction they were coming from. After a few seconds, he was able to determine that someone was coming down the corridor that his hallway T-boned into from the right. Will threw his stunner backwards on the strap that held it loosely around his torso as he began sprinting towards the he running footsteps. He launched himself into a flying tackle as the man ran past, knocking them both to the floor and managing to knock the wind out of himself at the same time.

Unfortunately for Will, his opponent was quicker to get up and drew a gun from the back of his pants. As he took aim, Will kicked his wrist, knocking the gun loose and giving himself time to scramble to his feet. But the other man had a knife in his boot, so when Will rushed him again, he ducked, drew the knife, and then swung upwards, catching Will in a slash across the back.

Will turned, completely ignoring the crackling of his radio as the other man slashed at him twice more with the knife. Both times, he ducked, and the second time, he managed to land a punch to his assailant's side as he swiveled away. The other man tried stabbing; Will used one of the blocks Henry'd taught him before sweeping his leg into his opponent's, knocking him to the floor.

The kidnapper locked an arm around one of Will's legs and pulled him down. They grappled for a few minutes before the kidnapper gained the upper hand, straddling Will and once again trying to stab him. Will grabbed the man's wrist in his left hand, stopping the downward plunge of the knife; the kidnapper had his other arm in a wrist-lock. Neither of them noticed Ashley, who'd heard the commotion and was running towards them.

Then the assailant gave Will's right wrist a sharp twist, breaking it audibly. Then he used his now-free left hand to double the force behind his blade and stab Will in the shoulder. Before he even had time to arrange his face into a gloating smile, a stun blast hit him square in the back and he fell forward on top of Will.

Ashley ran up and shoved him roughly to the side, tears in her eyes as she took in Will's shaking hand as he tried to help her, the blood on his shirt and the knife in his chest clearly saying she'd been just a hair too late. Kneeling beside him, she did a quick assessment and decided that she better not remove the knife as it might be preventing blood loss. Laying one hand against his cheek while the other reached for her radio, she murmured, "You're gonna be fine, Will. You just gotta hang on."

She moved her hand back down to his chest and did her best to put pressure around the wound with one hand as she used the other to press the button on her walkie. "Mom, I need you right away. Will's down." She gulped back tears, forcing herself to continue even though she just wanted to break down and sob. She pressed the button again. "He took a knife to the upper chest... his left hand side." Ashley locked eyes with Will, or tried to, seeing as his had already taken on a somewhat glazed appearance. His face was even paler than it had looked a few seconds earlier. Feeling Will start to shiver underneath her hand on his chest, Ashley's voice raised in volume and pitch as she concluded: "Mom, you gotta hurry! He's already going into shock!" With that, Ashley threw the walkie down so that she could put her other hand on the other side of the knife and apply more pressure to the wound as she frantically begged and pleaded with and threatened Will.

"Stay with me, Will. Just hang on, Mom'll get here and she'll take good care of you, you'll see. Just hang on, dammit! Don't you dare give up on me now! You promised! You said we were gonna be a family! Just one step at a time works both ways! Now open your eyes! Take a breath! Yeah, and another, that's right, just one breath after the other, a little bit at a time, just keep breathing, stay with me now. Stay with me! Come on, Will! Come on..."

_**MWAHAHA! What an evil place to end this chapter, I know! I'm not usually so mean with the cliffhangers, but now you're really stuck in suspense, aren't you? I'll try to put the next chapter up before any of you can come after ME with a knife...**_


	24. Handcuffs, Guns, & Medical Equipment

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Just wanted to take a minute to remind you all that this fic branched off, mid-first season, before Henry gets to start going on missions.**_

_**Handcuffs, Guns, and Medical Equipment**_

Magnus crept through the hallway, Henry just behind her. This was only his third time being out in the field, and while he had the utmost confidence in Magnus, he wasn't completely sure that he was ready to back her up- to be her _only _backup. _The stakes are higher, much higher here than in some stupid video game. And you can't memorize where the bad guys are going to come from. Dude, what makes you think you're ready for this?_

_Mom said you were._

Henry groaned internally. This argument he was holding with himself was distracting him, further proof that the part of him that thought he wasn't ready was right.

_But that would make Mom wrong. And Magnus is _never _wrong._

_Focus, focus, focus!_

It seemed like ages that they checked rooms, trying to find the little boy or even some sign of the kidnappers. They found boxes of medical tubing in various states of cleanliness. They found one room with six microscopes, at least three of which were broken. They found a busted dialysis machine that looked as though it had been raided for parts. They found a room with a counter that seemed literally covered in scalpels and clamps and surgical tools. They found heaps of medical equipment that looked as though they had been scavenged.

In the second hallway they checked going east-west, they discovered two doors facing each other that had heavy slide bolt locks on the outside of the doors. The first one they checked had a variety of weights on the floor, in every shape from blocks to discs to bowling balls, which seemed somewhat ominous to Henry for a reason he couldn't quite fathom. But he found the chair bolted to the floor with handcuffs hanging from the armrests- the child-sized chair- downright sinister.

The room across the hall from that one was tiny compared to the other rooms they had checked. It had a twin mattress on the floor with worn sheets. The mattress was pushed into a corner and the other end nearly touched a third wall. A doorway led to a small alcove with a grimy sink and a none-too-clean toilet. The fact that it was empty was not comforting, especially given the rooms they had already checked.

Magnus and Henry returned to the hallway and were approaching the next door when Henry stopped. "Hey boss!" he hissed. "I think I hear something." He pointed to the end of the hall. "Last door on the left, I think. There's some kind of shuffling."

As they approached the door, both members of the Sanctuary could make out muffled thumps and scuffles, interspersed with curses in at least three languages.

Magnus stopped outside the door and was giving him a look. She silently mouthed, "Three, two, one,"

before throwing the door open and going through, gun at the ready. Henry followed her in. The source of the scuffling was apparently the rather large man who was wedged into a small gap between a pair of crates. Henry dropped his stunner, grabbed the man's belt, and dragged him backwards. He was somewhat surprised by the amount of effort it took and wondered if the man had been stuck. The hand and arm that were the last part of him to be dragged from the small space were scratched bad enough to bleed.

Magnus wasted no time. As Henry pulled the man's arms behind him and cuffed them, she stuck the stunner into the man's neck and demanded, "Where is the boy?"

The man bit his lip and kept quiet, but Magnus didn't miss the way that his eyes flicked down and to the side, towards the gap they'd dragged him out of. Leaving the man in Henry's capable hands, Magnus got down on her hands and knees and scooted into the aperture. Seeing a tiny bare foot in the flashlight beam ahead of her, Magnus spoke softly and soothingly. "It's okay. It's okay, Joshua. I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Helen, and I'm a friend of your mother's. Can you crawl this way?"

However gently she may have been talking, her presence seemed to be scaring Joshua rather than comforting him, if his reactions were anything to judge by. He started quivering, and tried to hunch himself further into the dark corner he was curled into. Backing out of the tiny crevice, Magnus grabbed her radio.

"Will? Can you and Ashley make your way to this side of the building? We've located Joshua, but he's in a rather inaccessible spot at the moment and appears to be traumatized." Magnus paused to wait for a response. When none was forthcoming, she tried again. "Ashley? Will? Report, please."

"Hey, Mom." Ashley came online. "We're split up at the moment; I just finished tying up three bad guys we've stunned. Will is after another, and I'm gonna go try to catch up to him."

"Understood, Ashley. When you find him, can the two of you head this way, please?"

"Sure." Ashley paused a moment. "I think I hear him, Mom; sounds like he's got his hands full with the last guy. Hit you back in a few."

Magnus went back into the opening, scrunching herself as tightly as she could to see if she could get through the passage. Reaching an arm forward, she tried to just touch the boy, but he was a few inches beyond her grasp. Soothing words were having no effect, and somewhere above her, a leaky pipe was dripping steadily on her. Magnus' spirits fell. _I really don't want to have to take a sledgehammer or a saw or something like that to the wall to get him out of here. He's scared enough already._

"Please, Joshua, just please reach out and take my hand, and we'll go see your mom." She tried again.

"I can't." Joshua's lip was trembling and tears were leaking from his eyes as he said that.

"Joshua, please just try," Magnus encouraged. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"No, I can't!" he wailed. "I'm still tied up!"

Which is when Magnus realized that what she'd taken for an overlarge white sweater was, in fact, a straightjacket. She closed her eyes for a moment as her heart broke for the little guy. Then her radio crackled.

"Mom," Ashley bawled. "I need you right away. Will's down." There was a choking sound. "He took a knife to the upper chest... his left hand side." Ashley's voice was getting more frantic by the second. "Mom, you gotta hurry! He's already going into shock!"

Locking eyes with Joshua, Magnus promised, "I'll come back to help you get out, I promise. But I'm a doctor, and I have to go help him right now."

Magnus' heart was hammering in her chest as she crawled backwards out of the aperture. Seeing Joshua looking at her with those enormous blue eyes, tears streaming down his face, made leaving him one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. And in 157 years, she'd had to do a lot of hard things.

As she stood up, she heard Henry calling for an ambulance. Striding over to where the kidnapper was propped in front of the wall, Magnus kicked him in the shins.

"What's the quickest way to get to where your friends are in this rabbit warren of a building?" She demanded.

He gulped. "I think the quickest way will be to take a left, then take the long hallway down the side of the building. I think they're about three halls over, but if they're not there, please don't kill me!"

Magnus didn't even dignify it with an answer; she just took off running.

She listened to her feet pound down the corridor as the blood raced through her veins and her heart throbbed in counterpoint. Then she began to make out several figures on the ground in the dim light. As she started to make out the noise coming from up ahead, she swore under her breath several times. Ashley was practically babbling in her panic.

"... open your eyes! Take a breath! Yeah, and another, that's right, just one breath after the other, a little bit at a time, just keep breathing, stay with me now. Stay with me! Come on, Will! Come on, stay awake. Stay awake, damn you! Don't you dare close your eyes on me, William Zimmerman! Come on, come on. Stay with me, Will. Just hang on for Mom. She'll take good care of you. She's probably already got an ambulance on the way. Just hang on, dammit! Don't you dare give up on me now! Don't you want to meet your daughter? Don't you want to stay with me? Please, Will, please, just don't die..."

_**I know! I'm being downright diabolical, aren't I? Every bit as bad as Tolkien in LotR when he takes you from thinking Frodo and Sam are dead as the Mouth of Sauron shows off their stuff, all the way back to their long trip through the wastes of the Emyn Muil! Think of it this way: at least I only made you suffer through 4 pages to get back to the same place; with Tolkien there's like forty chapters before you get to the events in Minas Morgul and realize that there is, in fact, a slight chance that they're still alive, despite the orcs having their clothes.**_


	25. Intake

_**Intake**_

The ER doors slammed open as Magnus, Ashley, and two EMTs came running in with Will on a gurney. Magnus was yelling medical information and demanding a "trauma surgery theatre" as they rushed through another set of double doors. A nurse waylaid Ashley, keeping her from following them any further. Guiding her back to the intake area, the nurse gave Ashley's shoulders a rub.

"There now, he'll be in good hands. Maybe you can help me. Can you tell me who that was they just brought in?"

Ashley wrapped her arms around her waist, tears running down her face.

"Miss? Miss, are you okay?"

"Yeah, 'm okay." Ashley choked out.

The nurse decided to give her a few minutes.

Ashley stared into space, not noticing the people around her nor hearing the conversations. She barely noticed the nurse who brought her a clipboard with intake forms to fill out; when she registered what it was, she burst into tears.

The nurses, however, had not failed to notice her. The first nurse had pointed out the blood on her hands, and her paleness, dazed state, and copious tears had them wondering if she was suffering from something like acute stress disorder. So one of them brought her a blanket and draped it around her, not entirely sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing when Ashley pulled it tight and then clutched at it. All the nurses made periodic checks on her, intending to have a doctor check her out even if she did think she mumble that she was fine every time they managed to get her attention.

Time passed, and Ashley continued in her funk. She didn't even notice when Henry came in with a little boy in his arms, crying and clinging to him like his life depended on it. She didn't notice the fuss Joshua put up when they tried to separate him from Henry, or Henry's sigh and questions to the cop next to him and the hospital personnel.

"Can I go with him into the exam room? Or can we wait with this until his mom gets here? This was supposed to be just a routine thing."

Ashley didn't even notice when Henry sat down right across from her with Joshua still in his arms. She neither heard nor answered when he proceeded to talk soothingly to her while rubbing Joshua's back. Even when Mariah came in, screamed, "Joshua!" and ran to him, sobbing and babbling in relief. She didn't notice the two of them being led away by an orderly or Henry getting up.

She was still there, sitting in one of the hard chairs with a tear punctuating every thought about the possibility of Will dying, when someone laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed before prying the clipboard out of her hand.

"Shh, Ash. Mom'll take good care of him. It'll be okay." Henry's voice might have sounded strained to anyone else, but Ashley just heard her big brother comforting her. She turned and buried her face in his neck, wrapped her arms around him and hiccupped.

"But there was so much blood. He was shocky, and pale, and he couldn't even answer me, and all I could think was that Will was dying right there, his blood all over my hands and I couldn't stop it, I couldn't do anything about it. I love him so much, and I couldn't do anything to save him!"

Henry rubbed her back with one hand and brushed her hair back with the other. "You did help him, Ash. You called Mom and got her to help. You let us know, so we could call an ambulance. And I'm sure you did everything you could until help got there."

"But what if it wasn't enough?" Ashley sobbed.

"Then it wasn't your fault. But don't worry, it'll be enough. Will'll be fine." _He has to be. He _has_ to be. I can't let myself think anything else, or I'll turn into a blubbering wreck like Ashley. And I can't do that right now, because she needs me to be strong. Just be positive. Mom's got him, Mom'll take care of him, he couldn't be in better hands. He'll be alright. He has to be._

Henry's internal monologue was cut off by Magnus coming through the doors into the waiting room. She sighed and sat heavily on the other side of Ashley, rubbing her back in tandem with Henry and meeting his gaze as she said, "He'll be fine."

Helen's voice appeared to be the catalyst Ashley needed, because she turned and embraced her mom, squeaking "Really?" as more tears poured down her face.

"Yes. It was touch and go there for a bit; the knife nicked the subclavian artery and vein as well as the outer edge of his lung." Ashley gasped at this recital of injuries, but her mother continued. "We've repaired the damage and he should heal just fine. A few weeks of laying about doing nothing, and he'll be good as new."

"Can I see him?"

"In a few minutes, after they've got him settled in his own room." Taking in her daughter's appearance, Magnus added, "Come on, why don't we get you cleaned up a bit, too. Wouldn't want the first thing Will sees when he wakes up to be a tear-stained face, would we?"

_**Comments? Suggestions? I'm no doctor, so if I've messed up the medical facts, please let me know so that I can correct them. BTW, I do know that it will take more than a couple weeks for Will to recover, I just thought Magnus might downplay that a bit for the moment.**_


	26. Intake, part 2

_**Intake, part 2**_

When Ashley and Helen returned to the waiting room, Henry stood up and went to meet them. "Hey Boss, one of the other docs came out and wanted to talk to you about Joshua. He said you can go on back; he's in the third cubicle on the left."

As Magnus strode through the doors, Henry wrapped an arm around Ashley's shoulders. "Hey, no worries, right Ash? Mom said he'd be okay."

The nurse chose that moment to interrupt. "Excuse me. You seem to know what's going on here. Perhaps you could help us with filling in the intake records for the young man that she came in with," she stated, thrusting the clipboard at Henry.

"Uh..." Henry was going to protest, but the nurse quelled that with a look. Instead, he sat down and dutifully began filling in the form. Name: Henr Will Zimmerman. DOB: mid 1980's? Address: c/o The Sanctuary... However, after filling in the basic name and address information, the form started getting more difficult to fill in. Next of kin he decided could be Ashley, but when it came to questions about how Will's parents and grandparents died and when, if there was family history of heart disease or glaucoma or asthma or seizures or cancer, and what symptoms he'd come in with... Henry was pretty well lost. He hadn't even seen Will after he'd been hurt. He began muttering before deciding that maybe if he could get Ashley to help him with the form, she'd stop staring into space and tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair. Unless Henry was mistaken, what she been tapping for the past five minutes or so was the them from _Lemmings_. Or maybe something from the _Nutcracker Suite_.

Giving her a gentle punch on the shoulder, Henry got Ashley to look at him. Passing the buck by shoving the form at her in much the same way that it had been shoved at him, he said, "Come on, Ash-leeey. I'm lost here."

Looking at what he had written, Ashley had to agree that was obvious. She scratched out mid 1980's and put in May 19, 1982 for Will's date of birth. When she got to the blank medical sections below it, she raised an eyebrow at Henry. "What, you couldn't access his medical files at the Sanctuary and fill this in? This is totally a standard form."

"Uh, I didn't think of that." Grabbing his smartphone, Henry tapped away for a few minutes before holding it out for Ashley to see. "Okay, here you go."

"Noooo." Ashley shook her head. "Here _**you**_ go." She handed him the clipboard back.

Ten minutes of fidgeting later, Ashley went over to the desk. "Excuse me, I was told that after they moved Will to a room I would be able to see him. Can you tell me which room they put him in?"

After ten more minutes of speaking- and even a bit of arguing- with the administrator, Ashley came over and flopped back down into the seat next to Henry. Crossing her arms across her chest, she grunted, "Hurry up."

"Huh?"

"Hurry up, scruffy!" Ashley gave Henry a light slap on the arm. "Apparently, none of Will's records can be entered until they get that form from you, which means that curmudgeon at the desk can't- or won't- tell me where he is!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Henry's chickenscratch deteriorated further as he tried to write faster. Personally, he was beginning to wonder if he shouldn't just take his phone to the desk and let them copy from that. _But then, surely these people are used to illegible handwriting from working with doctors so much?_

Henry finished the form exactly eight minutes later. Ashley timed him, complaining about how long it was taking him. Fourteen minutes after that, Ashley threw a hissy fit at the desk because they still wouldn't let her see Will. After they got her calmed down, one of the nurses explained that the reason they couldn't take her to his room is that he hadn't been assigned one yet; X-rays had shown a spiral fracture of the ulna, which had needed reduction and casting. An hour and thirty-seven minutes later, Henry was sure he was going to go mad if Ashley didn't stop pacing. And rearranging the out-of-date magazines on the rack. And pacing. And sitting in a chair tapping her fingers. And pacing. And flipping through a magazine faster than any speed-reader possibly could. And walking halfway to the desk, glaring at the nurses and administrator, clenching her fists, and then stomping back to her seat. And tapping her foot. And singing under her breath something that sounded suspiciously like: "They're gonna die, die, die, die hard. They're gonna die, die, die, die hard when I snap. Yippie-ki-yay-".

When Ashley jumped up and headed for the desk again, Henry jumped up after her and grabbed a shoulder. "Hey, why don't I take her on this time?"

Ashley glared at the administrator behind the desk, then looked back at Henry. Snorting her breath through her nose, she crossed her arms over her chest and flopped back down in the chair again. "Okay, but I'm running out of patience. It's tomorrow already, Henry. I want to see him, even if he's still out cold and looking like crap. And where the hell is Mom?"

...

It ended up being another thirteen grueling minutes for Ashley before a candy-striper took her and Henry up two levels and through a veritable rabbit-warren of corridors and to a door marked "IL-338" before hurrying off. Entering the lab, they saw Magnus bent over a microscope.

"Mom? What are you doing?"

"Ashley! What's wrong? Has something happened to Will?"

Ashley's hands flew to her hips. "I wouldn't know! They haven't let us see him!"

"Well, we'll just have to remedy that." Magnus snapped the pencil she was using down on the desk with excessive force. She rolled over to the computer on another desk and started typing, rapidly bringing up a Will's records.

Ashley, however, upset over her apparent unconcern and was in no mood to be forgiving. "Mom! Just what the hell have you been doing?"

Magnus sighed. "Trying to figure out what the various compounds they injected Joshua with are, and what their purpose could possibly be. Also, since Joshua mentioned having them take his blood, trying to determine if there are naturally occurring abnormalities in his blood." Turning back to her daughter, she added, "I know you're probably thinking that I should be taking care of Will myself, but under the circumstances, I thought that it would be better to work up here in the immunology lab on Joshua's tests. Will is stable now, and while a Monteggia fracture is painful and will take a while to heal, it's not life-threatening. And the staff here is competent. I'm sure that they can handle setting a bone, casting an arm, and monitoring his condition. In addition, they've given me a pager and I'm to be notified immediately if either Will or Joshua develops any complications."

Standing, Helen wrapped an arm around Ashley's waist. "Come on. According to his records, they've assigned him a semi-private room on the fourth floor."

**AN:**

**I apologize for the delay in posting; I have bits and pieces of 4 more chapters down, but they're not yet complete. Please continue to be patient with me.**

**On a wholly unrelated note, has anyone else noticed how many **_**Stargate**_** characters show up on**_** Sanctuary**_**? There's Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Paul McGillion, Christopher Heyerdahl, Jonathan Young, Peter Wingfield, Gary Jones, and then Tom McBeath showed up as a Colonel in tonight's episode. I was almost sad that he was military and yet **_**not**_** Maybourne.**

**I can't wait to see who's next. Anybody want to have a bet on who shows up first? I'm hoping for Joe Flanigan, Richard Dean Anderson, Christopher Judge, Rainbow Sun Francks, Robert Picardo, Torri Higginson, Rachel Luttrell, Teryl Rothery, Gary Jones, David Hewlett, Dan Shea, Brent Stait, Carmen Argenziano, Colin Cunningham, Craig Veroni, David Nykl, or Colm Meaney. If we're looking for an actor for a character we'd all love to hate, I vote for Ronny Cox, Ben Cotton, or John de Lancie.**

**And is it my imagination, or is Ryan Robbins (Henry) one of the Genii in a couple of eps?**


	27. Vigil

_**Vigil**_

Ashley sat up straighter in the painfully unyielding chair and pulled her cell out of her pocket, again. 5:04 am. _I've been awake close to 21 hours now. Ten or eleven hours since we went into the warehouse. About seven hours since he got out of surgery with Mom. Three and a half hours in _**this**_ uncomfortable chair. Why won't he wake up? They said he'd wake up on his own!_

Ashley leaned forward again, slumping against the bed and once again sandwiching Will's casted hand between her own hand and her cheek. _Come on, baby, wake up. I just want to see those beautiful eyes, hear your voice, know you're okay. I don't want to fall asleep and miss you._

_Come on, Will, please._ Ashley sighed. _I'm so tired. I don't know how much longer I can keep my eyes open._

"Any change?" Henry asked from the doorway.

Ashley looked at Will, taking in once again the eerie shadows on his pale face in the slightly flickering fluorescence of the light above his head, the cast on one arm and the immobilization of the other, the monitors and wires and IV, the coolness of his fingers on her skin. "No. No change." She sighed.

"How are you holding up?" _Because frankly, I'm worried about you,_ Henry thought. _You've gone from completely out of it, to full of frantic energy, to laying there looking all depressed- in just a few hours' time_.

"I'll be okay."

"Need anything?"

"Nah." Ashley shook her head and sighed again. "Think I could get away with climbing up there with him?"

Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" Ashley gave him the big puppy dog eyes. "Not even if I was very careful? Doesn't the pregnant lady needing some rest count for something?"

"I'll be sure to remember that excuse if they catch you." Henry stated as he turned to leave the room again. "Although I'm pretty sure they'll be quick to point out the empty bed just a few feet away. Anything you want me to tell the Doc?"

"Nah."

Ashley waited until the door closed behind him before going to the other side of the bed and tugging the sheet, first under Will's feet, then under his back, in order to move him over as gently as possible. Then she walked back around to the other side, smoothed the sheet out, and tried to tuck it back in- although there wasn't enough left to be able to. Then Ashley crawled up on the bed next to Will and tenderly laid her arm on top of his stomach and under his casted right arm, gently entwining their fingers as she lay on her side next to him. Softly kissing his shoulder before laying her head next to it, Ashley closed her eyes and stopped fighting the urge to sleep.

...

_a little under an hour later..._

Henry was making his hourly lap between Helen and Ashley when a scuffy, shuffling sound caught his attention. He was going to dismiss it as just another person walking quietly in the early morning, but then there was a scrabbling noise like fingertips on a wall and a muted whimper.

Henry broke into a run, his ears tuned into the faint sounds. His prey tried to duck into another room and hide, but even the muted kicking against someone's legs was more than loud enough for Henry to hear. He followed the noise into the room to see a large man holding a gagged Joshua with one arm. As Henry threw the door open, the kidnapper drew a gun.

Henry froze.

His eyes flicked momentarily to the old man lying on the bed who had woken up unheard and was now gaping at the scene in front of him. _Please, old man, if you've got a heart monitor or something that'll squawk, pull it!_ thought Henry desperately.

But nothing happened. It was a standoff.

"Let the kid go."

"Make me."

"Listen, man, you know if you shoot me, everybody's gonna come running. You'll never get out of here with the boy. But if you let him go, I'll let you go." Henry met Joshua's eyes and tried to project strength and confidence.

"No! As soon as I let him go, you'll try to get me!"

"No, dude, honest. You give me Joshua and I'll give you a free pass for now."

The kidnapper looked around somewhat frantically. He chewed his bottom lip a moment. "No, this is how it's gonna go down: You walk out that door in front of me and lead the to the main doors. When we get outside, I give you the boy."

Henry licked his lips. The kidnapper probably had associates waiting to help in outside. "I'll go as far as the outside doors. No further."

The man raised his chin and looked at the door in a silent signal for Henry to start walking.

Henry turned to go, only to run headfirst into a nurse. Grabbing her arms and turning her, he said in a tight voice, "Why don't you go get Mr. Jones a glass of water," and gave her a little push down the hall.

Nurse Amy took a few steps before she looked back over her shoulder to tell the rather rude man that there was no Mr. Jones in that room, it was Mr. Jamison who had pushed his call button- but the gun and the man holding a struggling boy she saw following him out of the room _(they must have been behind him before!)_ made her suck in a breath and quickly face front again. She walked as quickly as she could to the nurse's station and picked up the phone.

When Henry walked out of the elevator on the ground floor, he was intensely aware of the gun in his back, the little boy whose face was being pressed so tightly against the gunman's shoulder that he was probably having trouble breathing. And of the security guards standing to either side of the door, who stepped in on either side of him, guns raised. So he turned to face the kidnapper.

When the kidnapper realized he was trapped with a gun pointed at his neck and another at his leg, he dropped his own gun and raised his free hand. Henry stepped toward and took Joshua from him, then left the security guards to arrest him.

Henry knelt down and helped Joshua get the ball gag out of his mouth. He was surprised, however, when Joshua threw his arms around him and started crying. Not so much at the tears, mind you, but because of the obvious trust the little boy had in a man he'd only met the night before. Since Joshua didn't seem to be willing to let go of him, Henry picked him up and started to carry him toward the elevator before realizing that he had no idea where Joshua's room was.

As he hesitated in front of the elevator, one of the guards approached him. "Sir, we're obviously planning to hold that man on a gun possession charge, but we'd also like to get your statement as soon as possible. I'd like to accompany the two of you ."


	28. Explanations and Plans

_**from chapter 27:**_

_Since Joshua didn't seem to be willing to let go of him, Henry picked him up and started to carry him toward the elevator before realizing that he had no idea where Joshua's room was._

_As he hesitated in front of the elevator, one of the guards approached him. "Sir, we're obviously planning to hold that man on a gun possession charge, but we'd also like to get your statement as soon as possible. I'd like to accompany the two of you ."_

_**Explanations and Plans**_

"Well, sir, you're welcome to do that, as soon as find out where that room is."

"What?" The officer's voice left little doubt of the suspicion and uncertainty that had just entered his mind.

Henry, on the other hand, had just made up his mind. Turning away from the officer and heading for the receptionist's desk, he ignored the guard following him. When he reached the desk, Henry asked the receptionist, "Could you tell me how to get to Joshua Jones' room, please? And if you could also page Dr. Helen Magnus and ask her to go there as well, I would appreciate it."

"I'm sorry, sir, but visiting hours don't start until 9."

"Oh. Well, let me explain. This," Henry nodded, "is Joshua Jones. I was just going to put him back to bed and stay with him a few minutes until we can find his mother."

"He tied Mommy up," whispered Joshua into Henry's shoulder.

Henry turned his head to look at the little boy. "In your room?"

"Uh huh." Henry reached up to wipe Joshua's tears away with his thumb as the little boy's lip trembled and he pressed closer to Henry's chest.

"Well, don't worry. We're going to take good care of your Mommy. We'll untie her, and then you'll both be able to hold each other. And this nice policeman is going to come with us because he wants to help keep you and your Mommy safe." Henry gave the guard a sharp look over the boy's head, making it clear not to contradict him or say anything else at the moment. Then he looked back at the receptionist. "The room number, please."

"He's in the pediatric wing. Room 309."

...

Magnus was already in the room when they got there, helping Mariah to her feet. When Henry walked in, Mariah screamed, "Joshua!" and ran to grab him.

The two of them clung together as Henry filled Magnus and the cop in on what happened.

Magnus rubbed her forehead. "This is giving me a headache. I still haven't been able to isolate all the compounds in his blood, but it appears that while the kidnappers had Joshua, they tried drugging him with stimulants, psychotropics, and depressants, possibly one right after the other. That they're willing to try to snatch him again from the hospital- well, let's just say it's ominous. And if they went after Joshua, it's possible they might try a retaliatory attack on Will or Ashley."

As she turned to Henry to ask him, he said, "Don't worry, Boss, I'm planning to check on them as soon as we're done here."

"And I should probably call the FBI and the police so that everyone's on the same page before I go back to the lab." Magnus sighed. "Would it be possible for you to stay here with them for a bit, officer? I'm going to try to arrange for someone to be stationed with them, but in light of the fact that Joshua's been kidnapped twice in the last twenty-four hours, I'd really feel better if they weren't left alone."

"I don't think there'll be a problem with that, Ma'am, but let me check in with HQ." He turned away and pulled out a cell phone to place the call.

Magnus rubbed her eyes again and Henry caught her shoulders. "Doc, after you call everybody, why don't you make some time to sleep? You look exhausted."

"I don't have time, Henry. I still need to analyze Joshua's blood samples some more. I should also probably take another sample now to see if any of the drugs have dissipated or been absorbed into his body yet. And I should be there for a consult this morning when they set him up with a psychiatrist. And I need to check up on Will's condition, and I should probably check on Ashley again myself, instead of just having you do it. And then I need to talk to the big guy and make sure everything's alright back at the Sanctuary. And then I need to talk to James about getting him to set up another field team, because now with Will and Ashley both out of the field, there's no way we're going to keep ours running. And then I need to..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Henry interrupted. "You don't need to do all that right now. Call the cops, I'll call the big guy, and worrying about the rest of it can wait. If it'll make you feel any better, you can come crash in Will's room; I don't think they're using the other bed in there. And then you'll be right there if something happens." Seeing her waver, he added, "Even the great and powerful Magnus has to sleep sometimes! You'll be able to analyze better after a nap."

"All right, Henry."

After Henry had left the room and the security officer stationed himself by the door, Helen took a minute to comfort Mariah.

As she was coming back into the room with the equipment to take a blood sample, Magnus overheard Joshua telling Mariah, "I wish the other man could have stayed."

"Henry?" queried Magnus just as Mariah asked, "Why's that?"'

"He's nice," Joshua said, snuggling against his mom. "And he smells like puppies."

**AN: Well, that's three chapters posted on this story in less than 24 hours. Be expecting a bit of a break, because now I'm feeling guilty for not posting anything on the **_**SG-1**_**/ **_**Hogan's Heroes**_** front and will probably work on a chapter or two of that next. Hope you've all enjoyed this installment!**


	29. Hey! That's My Coffee!

_**AN:**_

_First of all, everybody reading this in August 2011 needs to drop what they're doing and go PM sanctuarywilliam101 and wish him a Happy Birthday. And give him a great big thank you for lighting a fire under me. I was kind of absorbed in other projects there for a while, so this got seriously back-burnered. It might have been even longer until I got back to it if sanctuarywilliam101, who has sent me lots of encouraging notes in the past, by the way, had not sent me a note requesting an update as a birthday present. Which, being the softie I am, was like some sort of silver bullet to the other seven projects I was working on (which does not include _the Grandfather Paradox_ at the moment, sorry). So, sanctuarywilliam101, this is for you. Happy birthday!_

_And on a side note, I said 'him', but I'm not entirely sure if sanctuarywilliam101 is a him. Normally, I assume that everybody with 'William' in their name is a guy, but the possibility that the name was just chosen to honor a character makes that more debatable. You can have male Brennanites, so why not female Williamites? Online, names are sort of vaguer like that. You might think you have a guess, but really, everybody's like a small child with enormous dark eyes and long dark hair and a name like Josemaria that could totally go either way. So, sanctuarywilliam101, if you're really a her, no disrespect intended. _

_And now that I've had my two digressions, without further ado, I give you:_

**Chapter 29:**

_**Hey! That's My Coffee!**_

Will inhaled deeply and moaned gently before opening his eyes sleepily. "Please tell me you're not going to sit there and torture me by drinking that in front of me and not giving me any."

"You're awake!" Henry nearly shouted in his joy.

Will turned his head to look at his friend through eyes at half-mast and mumbled, "Yes, Henry. I'm awake. Sort of. Coffee would help."

"Okay, man. Mom'd probably give you ice chips first, but I always hated that. Hmm, let's' see, how does this thing raise up?" he said to himself as he stepped over to the bed and started to inspect the railings.

_Railings? When did Magnus's beds get railings on them?_ Will didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until Henry gave him a look and stated, "We're not at the Sanctuary, Will. You're at Mercy Philadelphia Hospital."

"I am?" Will looked around. _Okay, so maybe I should have got that much even without my glasses. That looks like a window over there, and there sure aren't any of those in in Magnus's underground infirmary._ His brow crinkled as he looked down and recognized the weight on his side as Ashley. "They let her in the bed with me?"

He noticed the cast. "I have a broken arm?"

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Will. And you got stabbed."

"I did?" A few disjointed images came to him of fighting someone with a knife, and he screwed up his face trying to remember correctly. "Oh, yeah, I did. Shit! I did! That guy probably got away and... Wait a sec, that isn't right. He fell on me, didn't he? And then Ashley came and yelled at me..."

"'S'not a very nice thing t'say," Ashley mumbled, snuggling deeper into Will's right shoulder, eyes still closed. "An' couldja be qui-i-i-et? " She yawned "M'sleepin' 'til Will wakes up."

Will managed a single chuckle at that; Henry laughed a bit longer... which turned out to be more than long enough to earn him a nasty glare from Ashley, despite the fact that she was clearly having trouble keeping her eyes open long enough to glare at him. Henry waved his hands. "I'm sorry Ash! It's just funny- what you said about Will and I shutting up so that you could sleep until Will wakes up."

Ashley looked upwards. "Will? You're awake?"

Will yawned. "As much as I can be when Henry won't share his coffee with me." He yawned again. "That, and because I'm apparently on the good stuff, because I can't feel a thing." He gave the coffee cup a pointed look.

Henry looked somewhat sheepish and turned to get the cup while Ashley told Will, "Now, don't move your arms. One of them's broken, and the other shoulder's a mess. So just let me hold the cup for you, 'kay?"

Henry handed the cup to Ashley, who held it up for Will, who took a sip. He was just about to take another when Magnus came sweeping into the room. "What are you doing!" She confiscated the cup and glared at each of them in turn.

That didn't stop Will from protesting, however. "Hey! That's my coffee!"

"No, it's not! It's mine!" Henry protested to Will. "I was just sharing!" He looked at Magnus. "And why are you taking my coffee? You don't even like coffee!"

"Come on Magnus, just a little bit? I really need something to wake me up!" Will pled.

"No. You are not getting this back. You know better, William Zimmerman." Magnus's tone was firm. "I'm going to dump it down the sink."

"Hey! Don't do that! Even if he can't have any, I still need it!" Henry held out a hand. "Please, Magnus, can I have my coffee back?"

Helen rolled her eyes. "Alright, Henry. But no more sharing."

"But Mom, I wanted some, too," Ashley pouted.

"No." Helen looked at her daughter, not missing the pale face and dark circles around her eyes. "What you need is some more sleep."

"Bu' Mom," Ashley opened her mouth to protest, but yawned instead.

"No buts." She looked at her watch. "According to Henry, you were still in the chair trying to stay awake an hour and a half ago. So you definitely need some more sleep." She turned her head to look at Will. "And you should probably get some more sleep as well, William, but first I'd like to do a few checks."

"How 'bout I save you some time, boss? I can feel my fingers just fine, wiggle my toes, breathe without trouble, remember at least most of what happened to me, yadda, yadda, yadda..."

Magnus was seized with a desire to giggle during Will's serious recitation, but instead put on a businesslike manner and replied, "Well, thank you very much for that self-diagnosis, Doctor Zimmerman. However, I should like to perform my own examination. Which will require the young lady currently using you as a pillow to move for a bit." She thought for a moment before looking each of children in the eye in turn. "Henry, Ashley, why don't you go down to the cafeteria and get us all some breakfast? Something light and easy for William. And some tea for me, please."

"Alright, Mom," came the answer as Henry started for the door. Ashley grumbled a bit under her breath, but joined him.

. _. . . . 7:15 am_

Nearly thirty minutes later, a uniformed police officer held the door open as Henry and Ashley returned with two trays each. Both of them thanked him as he went back to his post- guarding the door.

"Here you go, Mom. Oatmeal and a muffin and an orange and tea," said Henry, Placing a tray for Magnus on the counter before digging into his own eggs.

Magnus moved her stethoscope and listened to Will's lungs as he breathed a few more times. Then she gently lowered him back to the bed behind him. Meanwhile, Ashley had set both of her trays down on the rolling table and was adjusting it to the right height to fit over the bed. While her mother propped both of Will's arms up on pillows, Ashley swung the table over Will's legs and clambered up on the bed facing him.

"Chocolate pudding, bacon, blue jello, hashbrowns with cheese, and pickles?" Will asked, looking down at the tray in front of him.

"That's mine," stated Ashley possessively. "You get the muffin and banana."

Will smiled at Henry and Magnus. "Lucky me."

"Here, have a bite." Ashley lifted the peeled banana to his lips.

Will sighed. "This is gonna get old in a hurry." He took a bite.

"Well it could have been avoided if someone hadn't gone and gotten himself stabbed." Ashley put the banana down and dipped one of the dill pickle spears into her pudding.

"I don't think I'm really all that hungry," said Will as she crunched happily. He swallowed convulsively before turning pleading eyes to Magnus. She watched Ashley crumble a strip of bacon on her blue jello and take a bite. Will's face paled even more and she decided to rescue her protégé.

"Ashley, perhaps I should feed William this time."

"What! No! I'm perfectly capable of feeding my boyfriend!" Ashley took another bite of pudding- covered pickle and then held the banana up for Will again. He didn't take a bite, but Ashley was glaring at her mother rather than looking at him, so she didn't immediately notice.

"Yes, but dear," Magnus said very gently, "sometimes the food combinations a pregnant woman desires can have an adverse effect on those around them. Particularly if they're already not feeling their best."

"So?" Ashley had only been half listening as she crunched on more jello, and had missed her mother's point.

"She's saying Will's gonna puke on you if you keep making him watch you eat that," Henry said while still looking at his plate. "A feeling which I whole heartedly second. That's disgusting... And I thought it was a weird combination_ before_ you mixed it all together."

"Who asked you?"

"Ash," Will rasped. "Please let one of them do it. For breakfast."

"Alright." Ashley put the banana down hard, grabbed her tray and stomped over to chair on the other side of the bed from Henry and her mother. "Is being over here good enough, or do I need to pull the privacy curtain, too?"

Magnus gave Will a minute to compose himself before approaching the bed and gently nudging his legs aside. Then she sat and put a straw in the apple juice. "Here, Will, try a drink first."

"Thanks, Magnus."

They ate in silence for several minutes before Will asked, "So did you find Joshua, or did the bad guys get away with him?"

"We found him." Magnus replied. "And we took five men into custody."

"Six," snarled Henry.

"Oh, yes, six," said Magnus contemplatively. "There was the one from the incident this morning."

"Incident this morning?" Ashley questioned.

"Piece of shit tried to kidnap the kid right out of his bed," Henry rumbled. "Tied up his mom and stuffed a rag in his mouth." His tone grew sorrowful. "Poor kid. As if it wasn't bad enough what they did the first time."

"Yes, well, that actually brings up a few issues. Firstly, William. The hospital makes a habit of placing only one person in a semi-private room like this unless they're in a long-term ward or the hospital needs the bed space. But I'd like to move Joshua into this room, if you don't mind. Then we can cut down on the protection detail we're requesting, which will help grease the wheels with the local PD. But I think it would also make Mariah and Joshua feel safer. Also, it would be nice for Henry and I to not have to walk between your rooms when we're checking on both of you."

"Yeah, that's fine, Magnus." Will replied almost as soon as Helen stopped speaking.

"Secondly, Henry." Henry looked up. "Good work this morning. The police were very impressed with your bravery."

"Really? I didn't really get the 'impressed' vibe from them."

"Well, apparently after they spoke with a Mr. Jamison and a Nurse Chapel, their opinion of how you handled the situation went up. They asked if I train all my employees to be hostage negotiators." She smiled.

Henry snorted. "Whatever. I just didn't want him to kill the kid or shoot me. It was all I could do not to show how scared I was while he was pointing that gun at me."

"Yes, well, you did an excellent job, Henry. And the police weren't the only ones impressed." She smiled at him again. "Joshua's also taken a shine to you... which is why I would like you to befriend him, as well as watch out for him."

"Okay, Boss. No problem."

"Which brings me to the third thing I need all of your inputs on. The FBI's been questioning the suspects, but so far, they're not having any luck getting any of them to talk. They're also not keen on the idea of letting any of us question them... and although they conceded to my suggestion that psych profiling might be helpful, they were reluctant to allow someone from outside the Bureau do it, regardless of their record or experience. Sorry, Will; they said that while they might have considered you otherwise, your current status prevents them from letting you question them either."

"I'm okay with that," interrupted Will drowsily.

"Well, the point I'm trying to make is that even if I can manage to see them, chances are I'll only get one shot unless I can convince at least one of them to speak freely. So far, I haven't even been allowed to watch the interrogations. And then there's the whole issue of confidentiality. If they were after Joshua because he's an abnormal, we don't want that information bandied about or even on the record. It would be so much easier if I could just convince them to turn the investigation over to us, and we'll turn the perpetrators over to them when we're finished."

"Too bad you can't just tell them what to do and have them do it for you," groused Ashley, rubbing her face with a hand.

Will and Magnus's eyes met. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Will asked.

"The agent in charge is male..." Magnus answered pensively. "Maybe I should ask for her help."

"What? Whose help?" Ashley asked.

Will grinned, yawned, and then asked, "Can you put the bed back down before you go, boss?"

"Go? Go where?" Ashley asked.

"Don't worry about it, Ashley. And now, I think it's time that both you and William got some more sleep. Henry?"

"Huh? Yeah boss..."Henry said blearily from the corner after jerking his head vertical again.

"I was going to ask you to see about getting Mariah and Joshua moved, but it looks like you better grab a few hours' shuteye first." Henry started leaning back to the corner with a "Thanks, Mom" as Helen headed out the door; she paused just before exiting to say, "And Henry? If I were you I'd request a cot, or a pillow at the very least."

Henry groaned. "Note to self: next time, get something stronger than regular coffee after pulling an all-nighter. And don't share it; it leaves less caffeine to give you a rush." He yawned, and only the fact that Ashley threw him the pillow off of the other bed (figuring that when they brought Joshua in, the nurses could get another one) provided him with neck support as he conked out against the wall.


	30. Interrogations 1

_**Author's Note:**_

I am officially abandoning _It Takes a Little Time, Sometimes_. This is not because I dislike where I was going with it, but rather because I've gotten out of touch with the characters as they were in that long-ago first season and have no way to refresh my memory (and no time to do so even if I could). Also, because of time constraints- I really don't have time to work on anything, but am trying to make time to finish at least one of these stories just so I don't feel quite so much like a procrastinating screw-up- I had to choose which one I was going to work on. I own several seasons of _Hogan's Heroes_ and _Stargate_, so I can actually do research on those. Also, I like the plot of _The Grandfather Paradox_ better. So, I must apologize again for not finishing this story, because it may not ever get finished now.

But, I figured the very least that I could do would be to post the two chapters I've managed to finish in the last year or so... So, here's what may turn out to be the last 2 chapters:

_**Interrogations**_

Agent Sullivan slammed his fists down on the desk in frustration. "Sooner or later, one of you will start talking to us, and all of this bravado will screw you over, because whoever talks will get the deal and the rest of you will go down for a very long time."

"You've got nothing on me."

"Wrong. Right now, we have you on kidnapping, [experimentation on a child], child endangerment, and attempted murder. And the DA's looking at more charges as we speak; he wants to throw the book at you."

"You'll never convince a jury."

"Oh, and what's your story going to be? I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and just happened to plunge my knife into someone's shoulder?"

"Self-defense."

The dark-haired agent abruptly shoved his chair back and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him and leaning against it as his partner came out of the observation room.

"Hey, maybe you should give it a little break. You're getting wound pretty tight, there."

"It's just... these guys... they always think that they can get away with it. Even when we catch them red-handed! They were caught at the scene, fired on the authorities, and now expect to get off scott-free! I'd like to smack some sense into them! Especially this one- Carnoza- the forensics team estimates that there was at least two pints of blood on the floor from his victim, and that's not counting the splatter, the blood on his shirt, the blood on the victim, and the blood all over the rest of the team. Apparently the gal who found him had so much blood on her that the ambulance crew thought she was injured. Carnoza hasn't even got a scratch on him, and yet he wants to claim self-defense. It makes me sick!"

"Carnegie said it took their guy more than forty minutes after they got there to wriggle back out of the hole in the wall he'd wedged himself into- pulling the kidnapped kid out after him. The kid was bruised and dirty and still tied up in a straitjacket. They finally cut it off the poor kid because they couldn't undo the knots. And then when they got it off, the poor kid's arms were covered in needle marks."

Sullivan slammed a fist into the wall at his side; his partner once again moved his arms placatingly. "The doctor on their team sent word that she expects a full recovery for both of them."

"Yo, Nelson! Sullivan!" Agent Herrera yelled down the hall. "You hear the latest? They tried to snatch the kid from the hospital again this morning!"

The partners grimaced in unison. "They get him? Nelson asked.

"No, they didn't even get him out of the hospital."

"Was the kid hurt?" Sullivan queried as Herrera approached.

"Don't think so," the other agent answered, "Although the poor kid's probably scared out of his wits about now. Hospital security also rounded up another collar for us. They're putting him in three, if you want to take a crack at him."

"Nah, I think it's time for me to call it a night," Sullivan answered. "They're really starting to get under my skin.

"A night? Man, you been here all night? It's ten thirty in the morning."

"Really?" Nelson looked up and down the hall. "I'm surprised this slug's lawyer isn't here yet, then."

"Actually, I don't think any of these slime have lawyered up."

Sullivan and Nelson locked eyes. "That's weird."

Sullivan crossed his arms over his chest. "And that's another thing. There's no motive in this case. The kid's mom barely pulls in thirty-five grand a year. The dad's dead. Neither of them had any enemies. So why snatch the kid in the first place? And why, once you have him, would you shoot him full of every drug known to man?"

"You got me," Herrera answered. "Why don't you two go grab some sleep, let Carnegie and I take this for a while. If we catch a break, we'll let you know, okay?"

Four hours and zero results later, Carnegie and Herrera were pulled out of grilling one of the kidnappers by their boss.

"Betcha White's gonna chew our asses for not getting anything out of this bunch of crap yet," Herrera commented to his partner under his breath as they walked up to the assistant director's office.

As it turned out; that wasn't the reason they were being summoned. When they arrived in the assistant director's office, they found two women already there. Carnegie was struck by how desirable they were; Herrera was less affected.

"Gentlemen," began Director White, "This is Doctor Helen Magnus, the head of the private organization that assisted in breaking the kidnapping case you're working on. And this is her associate, Miss Annabelle Galswinthe. Doctor Magnus has explained that she has a gift for interrogations. Since neither you nor Sullivan and Nelson have managed to get any information out of our perps, I have decided to let them take a shot at them. Please escort them down to interrogation."

"But director, this is highly unusual," protested Herrera weakly.

"The whole situation is unusual," White answered. "And Doctor Magnus' team has certainly proven themselves capable of finding leads." White noticed the agent opening his mouth again and anticipated his next question. "Yes, you may observe their interrogation, but please give them some leeway."

Agent Carnegie opened the door and motioned with his arm. "After you, ladies." If his tone was slightly fawning, Helen and Annabelle pretended not to notice.

_..._

Carnegie and Herrera looked through the mirrored glass into the interrogation room; the two ladies had asked for a few moments alone in the hallway before they joined one of the suspects that had been held overnight. "Any bets on how their 'interrogation specialist' is going to get answers?" Carnegie asked his partner.

"It better not be torture," Herrera said somewhat darkly. "I despise the use of torture. Not only is it demeaning and degrading for the victim, it dehumanizes the torturer and seldom, if ever, produces reliable leads."

"Who spit in your coffee today? You've been a regular stick in the mud all afternoon."

"Well, forgive me if I'm frustrated by the fact that our suspects aren't talking, which means we don't know who hired them, which means there could be more people out there in danger. And on top of that, I have to let civilians try to do my job, without having any idea of how they work or if they're able to handle themselves if one of these criminals tries something!" Herrera fumed.

Carnegie raised an eyebrow. "What's the real problem?"

"What?" Herrera exploded. "Aren't I allowed to be concerned about the case and our lack of progress?"

"Yes, and I believe you are... but there's something else. You're too worked up for it to just be that."

"Yeah, yeah, says you."

"How long have we been partners now? Three years? So I think I'm starting to get pretty good at reading your moods. Now what's the matter?"

"I find her attractive," Herrera muttered.

AN: Anyone want to guess why Herrera thinks that's a bad thing?


	31. Interrogations 2

_**Interrogations, part 2**_

"I find her attractive," Herrera muttered. "And that's just wrong, on so many levels."

Carnegie eyebrows had shot up at Herrera's confession. "When's the last time that happened?"

"Never, that's why it's so wrong."

_Never?_ wondered Carnegie. _I knew he was gay, but I would have thought that he would have checked out the other team at least once in his life. _ He brought himself up. _Focus. Help your partner figure out what's going on, and maybe he won't be so freaked out._ "So, what's the big deal? You finally decided to check out a member of the opposite sex. So what?"

"So what? So _what_? What's _wrong _with that is that I _didn't _decide, it just... happened. Against my will. And as much as I'm turned off by the very idea of a woman, for some reason, a part of me wants to do everything _that one _says and smarm all over her like you were."

"I was _not _smarming all over anyone."

"Just keep telling yourself that. Hey, they're going in... finally." The two agents fell into silence as they watched what was happening on the other side of the glass.

_..._

The man sitting at the table took one look at Magnus as she walked in, paled, and backed himself into the corner. Magnus smiled in a not-at-all-friendly way.

"I see my reputation precedes me. Perhaps you'd like to sit and tell me what you've been doing that you're so afraid of my wrath."

"Uh, no, I have no idea who you are."

_..._

On the other side of the glass, the agents couldn't help commenting.

"This guy sucks at lying."

"I'm more concerned by the fact that they seem to know each other."

"No, I don't think she knows him- but Davidson knows who she is."

"Where's the other gal? I thought she was the interrogation specialist?"

_..._

Mugnus tilted her head and gave the man a pointed look. "Do you really expect me to believe that? I am not so imposing a figure that men run from me on a general basis."

"Okay, okay. I know who you are. I know what you do. But that's it! I swear."

"Is that so?" Magnus steepled her fingers. "Then you'll still have nothing to say when my associate joins us."

"What?" Davidson's eyes couldn't help flicking to the door and widening in fright. "Who'd you bring? I'm in federal custody! You can't do anything to me! They're probably taping this-"

Magnus merely looked on, disinterestedly, as Davidson continued to ramble and rant in apprehension. _I wish he'd say something useful. This is getting quite annoying._

"Mr. Davidson." Magnus spoke firmly, regaining the suspect's full attention. "I have no plans to _do_ anything to you. We merely intend to speak with you."

"You can't make me talk! I have the right to remain silent!"

"Indeed, but you can waive that right at any time."

"They'll know! They'll know if you give me something!"

"Have I implied in any way that I would drug you?"

"No..." stuttered Davidson. "But you're _you_. You know more about drugs and biology than all the doctors in most hospitals put together! Things don't know, can't know! And if you're not planning to beat it out of me..." He gasped. "You're going to read my mind! You can't do that! There are rules! It's like rape, to do something like that! You can't..."

"You would," said Magnus in a low, dangerous tone. "But no, I have no intention of stooping to that level. I believe it will prove unneccessary, for you will _choose_ to give me the answers I desire."

"Like hell I will!"

The door opened and Annabelle walked in. The change was immediate.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Annabelle couldn't help rolling her eyes. Even if she'd half expected a come-on, that was definitely sub-par.

_..._

_**On the other side of the glass...**_

Carnegie choked on his coffee. "He didn't!"

"He did."

"How lame can you get?"

"More importantly, why would he be trying to pick her up now when ten seconds ago he was defiant and swearing that they'd get nothing out of him?"

_..._

_Here we go,_ thought Annabelle. _This is far more disgusting than I thought it would be._ She pasted a coquettish smile on her face and leaned toward Davidson, even as Magnus unobstrusively moved to a corner. "I came because I wanted to talk to you."

Davidson started tracing her hand gently with his fingertips; Annabelle tried hard to repress her shudder of revulsion. "What did you want to know, babe?"

"Oh, just the usual things... do you have a job, what are your hobbies, are you involved in criminal activity?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm trying to figure out how to pull off a theft."

Annabelle glanced at Magnus. "Really? Is your financial situation that dire?"

"Nah, after that last job, I've got plenty of cash. I probably won't even have to work for a couple of years unless I feel like it." Davidson leered at Annabelle, licking his lips. "But as soon as I have a stroke of brilliance and come up with the perfect plan how, I'm going to steal your heart."

_Not likely. _Annabelle schooled her features. "Well, if you made so much money, you _must_ be good at your job."

"Of course, babe. 'Course, we weren't expecting her-" he jerked his head at Magnus- "to throw a monkey wrench in things. I may need to disappear for a while; Walden's not going to be pleased that we got pinched."

"Walden?"

"My boss. For this job anyways."

_..._

"This is ridiculous! She's just sitting there flirting, and he's spilling his guts!"

"Not what I thought 'interrogation specialist' was going to look like, either. Especially not from a private firm."

"Yeah, well, it shouldn't be working!" Herrera waved his arms for emphasis. "I know these guys didn't strike us as top-of-the-line, but after not talking to us for hours, not even giving up his boss's name for a deal with the DA, do you really think he'd get his head turned so bad by a pretty face?"

"Well, no..."

_..._

Annabelle rested her chin on one hand and resisted the urge to rip her other hand away from the man on the other side of the table. _As much as it's killing me to let this slime touch my hand, he's probably giving himself a double or even triple dose of my pheromones with all this touching._ "So what is your job?"

"This time? Just a snatch and grab. A kid, of all people. Not even really a challenge."

"So you've done this before?"

"Sure, I've done it all. Liberated valuables from the rich and stupid, messed up people's apartments and left them reminders of who's in charge, grabbed people for ransom, even knocked off the odd ex-wife or former partner-in-crime."

Annabelle tried not flinch at the things that Davidson was revealing. _Theft, kidnapping, ransom, murder... What a little piece of shit. I wish I could tell him what I really think of him, but Magnus wants answers. And a confession._ "Was that why you kidnapped the kid, then? To hold him for ransom?"

"Pshaw! You kidding me? That kid? His mom probably couldn't even come up with twenty grand, which was the bankroll for that op. Nah, Walden wanted something else. And I don't think it was revenge, either."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the set-up was all wrong for that. First off, Walden _insisted_ that we let his guy have complete access to and control over the kid once he was grabbed. Secondly, this guy, this 'doctor'-" he did air quotes- " made us track down and buy a ton of medical equipment- weird stuff, like a dialysis machine and a centrifuge- but blew a gasket about us even suggesting that we buy any of it new! New! No, no, no! It had to be old, used! Bought under the table. Untraceable!" He gestured animatedly. "But by the same token, none of it was good enough. That microscope isn't strong enough! That tubing is too short! That tubing is too dirty! These scalpels aren't sharp enough! Those needles are the wrong gauge! What a whiner!"

"Why wouldn't he let you just order the things he needed? That doesn't make sense."

"I know! It's like the jerk was trying to be deliberately difficult!"

_..._

"The way she's playing up to this slime is making me sick to my stomach."

"Shut up! It's working, isn't it?"

_..._

The interrogation continued along those lines for some time. When Annabelle felt she had learned everything she could, she gave Magnus a pleading look. Magnus nodded and gave a meaningful look over Annabelle's head and through the glass. Herrera and Carnegie didn't waste any time in going to retrieve their prisoner. They opened the interrogation room door just in time to hear Magnus's disdainful, acerbic tone.

"Well, as delightful as it's been to listen to you complain about your boss and tell us your plans for kidnapping and torture, I'm afraid we're out of time for today."

As the officers led Davidson away, still looking lustfully over his shoulder at Annabelle, she put both elbows on the table and ran her hands over her face. Sighing heavily, she told Magnus, "That was ghastly. What a nasty piece of work."

Magnus gently rubbed her colleague's tense shoulders in sympathy. "I hate to ask it of you, but we need to corroborate his story. We'll also need to speak to the man who broke into the hospital early this morning."

"Ugh." Annabelle rubbed her face again. "I need a break before that."

"That is completely understandable. Is there a certain type of food or drink you prefer?"

"Nothing, right now. Letting that slime touch me turned my stomach."

"Nevertheless, you should try to eat something now to keep your strength up."

Annabelle dismissed Magnus's suggestion with a wave of her hand.

"Really. If you're disgusted now, chances are, you won't be feeling any better later. I've often found that revulsion is cumulative."'

_..._

Herrera and Carnegie had gone to get coffee after returning Davidson to his cell. As Herrera dumped a creamer and two sugars into his coffee, he commented, "I kind of feel bad for that gal. She must feel so dirty afterwards, using her looks and her charm to get scum like that to talk."

"Hey, it's not like anybody's forcing her to do it."

"Maybe not, but did you see her face? She doesn't enjoy this at all. I'm not even sure she felt vindicated by getting all the answers she did. It was just revulsion."

"Well, she must see the value of it, or she wouldn't do it," Carnegie averred.

"I get the feeling that she dreads getting this sort of assignment from her boss, but goes along with it because it comes with the job."

Carnegie tossed his styrofoam cup into the trash. "Well, I guess it's time for us to go get another slimeball; Magnus told me that she'd also need to talk to the one who attempted to kidnap the boy again from the hospital this morning."

_..._

_**Author's Note:**_

I hope you've enjoyed these last couple of chapters. Sorry again that I didn't get it done. Someday I may finish it... just don't hold your breath waiting.


End file.
